Ittefaq Trailer! And, More Interestingly, Ittefaq Publicity Campaign!

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Karan, Shahrukh, and other people all tweeted the trailer at the same time late last night.  Which is interesting on its own.  But also, the trailer is kind of good!

Trailer discussion first.  As is always true, Akshaye Khanna is the best part of the film.  Siddharth and Sonakshi are brilliant casting though.  Like the original, they are pretty perfect seeming people, who are very good at present a certain image.  And that is what makes their characters so twisty, we look at them and have no idea what they are “really” like.

It also adds a little extra drama to the story, to have these people we are used to seeing all perfectly dressed and made up and everything, be a little rough around the edges, a little shakey.  Makes us, the audience, feel shakey right from the start.

And then there’s Akshaye.  Who is wonderfully real.  Grumpy, short, funny facial hair, just a refreshing bit of flavor in Sonakshi and Siddharth’s mysterious blandness.  Just like he was in Mom, and in Dishoom.  If this is Akshaye’s new career, showing up for 20 minutes to play amusing fascinating cop/criminal characters, I am there for it!

Most importantly, the trailer makes you want to see the movie even if you already think you know how it ends (because it is a remake).

 

 

Okay, NOW I can talk about the promotion strategy!  Karan has announced that there will be no campaign.  No interviews, no public appearances.  The film will stand on its own.  Trailer, posters, that’s it.

A great idea for this film in particular in several ways.  This is a movie where the plot really is the selling point, if it hopes to even come close to the original.  That’s why they cast such small stars, they didn’t want the stardom to overshadow everything else.

And because they have such (comparatively) small stars, they can do this promotion strategy.  If Shahrukh announced he wasn’t doing interviews for a film (which I actually think he should do for his next film), everyone would wonder why, that would become the story.  But this way, the promotion strategy is the story, everyone can easily forget Sonakshi and Akshaye and Siddharth.

But, while the in front of the camera talent is small for this film, the behind the camera talent is very big.  Karan, Shahrukh, and BR Chopra’s grandson/Ranbir Kapoor’s childhood friend/Aditya Chopra’s cousin.  And that’s what we saw with this trailer release.  It is just the trailer, nothing else, but it was tweeted by all the accounts in tandem, SRK and Karan along with the stars.  And I assume the same will happen moving forward.  A reminder 24 hours before the film comes out, any new trailer that releases, etc. etc.  Possibly with Ranbir jumping in to help at some point, or the YRF corporate account.

I can only assume they are doing it this way because they have been reading our comments section.  Where we have been saying since JHMS came out that promotions need to be smaller and more directed and cheaper.  This, I think, is just about perfect.  A film where the story is the star, promoted based on the story and nothing else.  If you are intrigued by the trailer, go see it.  If not, skip it.

20 thoughts on “Ittefaq Trailer! And, More Interestingly, Ittefaq Publicity Campaign!”

  1. Perfectly cast for sure. Looks very small budget which will work to its benefit…they certainly didn’t have to pay for extra lighting. I watched the original a few months ago and I love that this looks and feels so different but clearly sticks with the basic plot of conflicting accounts which is almost always effective…a true contemporary update not like some recent films….I’m looking at you, Judwaa 2.

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    • Also very very smart relaunch for BR Chopra films. A budget that almost guarantees a profit, and a script that makes it easy for BR’s grandson to try his directing wings. And stars who won’t be too pushy and try to take over.

      It also reminded me of Rustom, which used similar conflicting accounts, but with a lot of splash around it which I think weakened the twisted mystery elements. I prefer this, just a simple straight forward 3 character drama.

      On Thu, Oct 5, 2017 at 11:20 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:

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  2. Again the feeling of an intimate play (as you wrote “3 character drama”). As for the promotion: There may be those little ‘conversations’ again…Twitter, RedChillies messenger and a theatrical release of the trailer (?), not ‘only’ on social media…we’ll see.

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  3. Thank you for bringing this trailer to my attention. With this trailer, I now have a film directed by an Indian director that I want to watch (as opposed to will probably watch anyway) before 2018 rolls around.

    The other five on my list of such movies would probably make The U.N. feel smug about its cross-pollination-of-cultures achievement levels, considering that what I want to watch are The Snowman (from Swedish director Mr. T. Alfredson), The Breadwinner (from Irish director Ms. N. Twomey), the Death Wish remake (from American director Mr. E. Roth), the upcoming Thor sequel (from Kiwi director Mr. T. Waititi) and All the Money in the World (from British director Mr. R. Scott).

    I hope it’s as good as Priyadarshan’s Aakrosh, which came to mind because Mr. A. Khanna was involved in that one as well. Bollywood is in trouble if only one film, and that too a small one, is all they have been able to gin up excitement for so far for the winter season.

    Regards.

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