The coal offer for one has always been a diamond offer for other and Hindi cinema is no exception. We have often heard about filmmakers rejecting film offers and then later regretting for not understanding the true potential of project initially. When the final result come out they sit back and enjoy the film wearing audience cap in theatres. The game of rejection and acceptance is not new in Bollywood and current film which highlights the same game is none other than critically and commercially successful movie Gangs of Wasseypur from Anurag kashyap’s bag.

A political and crime saga which has been made in two parts is liked by audience right from Bihar to Cinema capital Cannes. Sachin k Ladia and Akhilesh Jaiswal who are first time writers surprised everyone with a neat and beautifully crafted screenplay along with many splendid dialogues. Sachin says “We went to Hansal Mehta before approaching Anurag. We knew everyone will like the story but who’ll make it was the real question in front of us”. The project was too big as compared to the small films Hansal Mehta  made earlier. It was a golden opportunity which could have reserved a seat for him among the A-list directors in coming time. Later Anurag kashyap read the story and confirmed his association on the spot once again proving that, the actual Hero of the movie is its story and not the stars.

Such instances not only happen between writer and director but with Actors too when it comes to their role in a film. When Ashutosh Gowariker went to Aamir Khan for Lagaan, Aamir advised Ashutosh not  to waste his time on such a bizarre subject. But luckily when Ashutosh came back to Aamir after getting refusal from Shah Rukh Khan he managed to convince Aamir and rest is History. Similarly the director of Slumdog Millionaire approached SRK for the role of Quiz Show Host. He was too busy and then Anil Kapoor stepped in. Later Charandas from Chameli Ki Shaadi went on to become one of the most famous Indian faces in Hollywood circuit after the release.

Gabbar Singh character is an epitome of this game. Earlier it was offered to Danny Danzongpa but at the last moment he went on to do another project and then Amjad khan was asked to play the role. Post release an immortal character in the history of Hindi cinema was born. If Danny slightly knew how this film could change his life he could have never turned it down.

Whether it’s a first time writer or a renowned filmmaker every big story or role is looked upon with suspicion initially. Many writers who tried to break the norm and tried to convince people to come out of their comfort and boring zone have gone through the same phase. A movie works because of its story no matter it has been written by a fresher or someone who has made century in writing. Rather than running behind the stars for their dates it’s more important to chase for good stories. That’s one of the way Hindi cinema can evolve. A lot of young filmmakers are following the same path, let’s see how far we go??

If you search “Social Network” in Google , instead of giving the results about the definition of particular term the first result which comes up is about a movie “The Social network” which even got 8 nominations at 83rd Academy awards and was praised worldwide.

Conclusion: There is a strong relation between “Social Network” and “Movies”.

Over a period of time this relationship between Movies and Social networking has evolved and that is the main reason why there has been an enormous change in the way films are being marketed nowadays. Filmmakers and producers have realized that if they want to pull in audience to theaters there are only two ways, first either create a controversy around the film, second design a social media campaign. Controversies don’t last long but Social media campaign if done in a right manner can boost the ticket sales immensely. After then it’s the content which decides the fate of a movie.

Traditional ways like airing promos on television, giving ads in newspaper and magazine still exists but due to cyber revolution in late 90’s and early 20s Digital and Social Media marketing have taken a front seat. Today almost two third of the world population visits a social networking site once in a week and that’s a major reason why all the big studios and production house around the world are spending substantial amount of their marketing budget for a successful online campaigns.

For example movies like Harry Porter, Inception and Avatar had spend huge amount of money to make sure that they reach to their target audience easily and stay connect with them 24*7. Today “word of mouse” is equally important as “word of mouth” for a film success which can be easily seen with hundreds and thousands of fans across the world joining the social online platforms of their favorite movies on facebook/twitter within minutes of their creation.Harry Potter’s facebook community only has close to 27 millions fans and counting. It always remains the “talk of twitter” pre and post release time.

Though not everyone who joins these online communities turn out to be the theater audience but these figures helps in spreading the word which effects the sale of tickets significantly in the opening weeks.

It’s not only the Hollywood studios who are going the online way to create buzz filmmakers from India too have realized the power of Social media and online platforms as the best medium to talk about their films. Studios like Yashraj films,

ALT entertainment (Balaji Telefilms) are already running high on social networking platforms whereas filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar boasts of huge fan following online.

These mediums can also act as a financier for your upcoming flick. Filmmakers like Onir took a step forward and used these platforms smartly to collect funds for his recent film “I AM”.

One thing which plays a pivotal role in a successful Social media campaign is “Audience engagement”. Tapping active users and engaging them smartly helps in creating the awareness which increases the fan base exponentially.

Ashish Patil Producer at Y-films (YashRaj) says “83% of the movie going audience is between 15-35yrs and spends more time online than any other medium. Hence Social Media and digital marketing was the first and obvious choice. We also premiered lot of our content first online and then broke it on TV.”

Reason: Digital marketing catches more eyeballs and cost less as compared to other mediums

During the release of their film “Love ka the End” they started India’s first ever Youtube video chat with the cast and crew which pulled close to 9000 participants.

Gaurav Mishra, Co-founder at Media Redefined, one of the top social media agency in India says “Marketing needs to be at the place where people pay attention and when 1 out of 3 people in India hang out on social networking websites it becomes necessary for film industry to have a strong presence on these platforms for promoting their films.”

With the change in time ,marketing strategy for a film need to be revised so that good content reaches to every nook and corner of the world. To survive in an industry which gives out more than thousand films a year, a good and excellent movie matched with a right social media strategy can do wonders at box office and achieve its aim of entertaining a wider audience.

Nowadays the Idiot box at our home is serving is what we call as the GenNext content. But still for many years the question whether Television shows what we like to watch or we modify our taste buds as per the content shown is still looking for a well defined and balanced answer.

In the era of “Beep” and “Uncut” version it shouldn’t surprise you if you hear a Beep sound 100 times in a one hour episode of a reality show. In case of movies and feature films which transit through censor board categorization not allowing everyone to watch everything but when it comes to advertising and TV serial there seems no one to draw a line.

With recent orders by Information and Broadcasting ministry to certain brands to take their commercials off air has come as an alarm to TV and Advertisement industry. Ministry has notified ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) for seven ads which are considered visually obscene and seems to hamper the Indian culture. But the irony is that even ASCI get a chance to watch these films once they are on air. Though the Ads have a creative angle we can’t deny the raunchy feel which somewhere spoils the mind of audience specially youngsters.

Even the bigwigs of Advertising fraternity like Prahlad kakkar and Bharat Bala are supporting the ministry’s steps. They think that certain brands are going way ahead and making commercial which is inappropriate on moral grounds specially the one where a married gal drops her Manglasutra.

Manoj Shroff who heads Equinox films which boasts of making some of the most successful commercials in Indian Advertising history like “Hamara Bajaj” and “HappyDent” says “If they are obscene they must be taken off especially since TV is an open medium and children cannot be controlled from watching it. What and how much is obscene is however always debatable”.

Most of the people use deodorant to fight the bad odour and not to seduce a gal, with a least expectation that gals around will chase or jump on them. But that’s what a commercial of Axe shows which even resulted into Unilever paying millions of dollar to a guy who sued the brand in court for false depiction and promise. He claimed that he used the deodorant for seven years but not even a single gal came closer to him.

Though time has changed and the content has evolved many folds in last few years but showing women as the object of desire seems unethical and unfit specially in Indian culture. It’s not about moral policing but we need to understand that what works in west might not go well with Indian audience. ASCI needs to be more careful in near future and upgrade its guidelines when it comes to commercial targeting Indian audience.

His very first short film as producer was nominated for Oscar Awards in 1960. His first film as director won National awards from Indian Govt. His partnership with World’s famous director James Ivory has been placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest partnership in independent cinema history. He was an actor, writer, producer, director as well as a great cook. His movie was nominated 4 times for Oscar.

Ismail Merchant the most internationally acclaimed Indian filmmaker. Born and brought up in Mumbai he went to NewYork for higher studies. In 1961 He founded a production house Merchant Ivory Productions in association with director James Ivory. Together they made close to 40 films and their films won six Oscar award and several other prestigious award. They also had close friendship with Novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala who has written most of their films.

His films “A Room with a View” , “Howards End” “The Remains of the Day” and “The Creation of Woman” were nominated for Oscars. His subjects were thoroughly researched showing a detailed frame and his movie sets reflected the luxury.

“Mahatma and the Mad boy” as director, “Shakespeare Wallah” and “Bombay Talkie” as producer were his other famous work. He also wrote couple of books on food and cooking like “Ismail Merchant’s Indian Cuisine”, “Ismail Merchant’s Passionate Meals” and “Ismail Merchant’s Paris: Filming and Feasting in France.

He also wrote books on making of his film. His last book My Passage From India: A Filmmaker’s Journey from Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond gave us insight about how an Asian with strong determination and passion went onto become one of the successful filmmaker in Hollywood and World cinema.

In 2002, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He died in 2005 at the age of 68 in London and was buried in Mumbai.

He use to earn Rs. 80 /month working as a junior visualiser and then in 1992 he earned a Honorary award for Lifetime Achievement from Oscar Academy. His book “Our films their films” which came in 1976 was a classic literary work highlighting the difference between Indian and Hollywood cinema and other International filmmakers.He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema.

This time we’re talking about Satyajit Ray,born in Kolkata in 1921 was one of the greatest filmmakers who bought most international honours to our country for his contribution to parallel and realistic cinema.

He started his film career as a director with his  first film, Pather Panchali (1955) which won eleven international prizes, including Best Human Document at the Cannes film festival followed by making of  Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959), the three films form The Apu Trilogy.Though he faced many financial hurdles while making Apu Triology, he never compromised with the script and his way of filmmaking.

Ray directed thirty-seven films, including feature films, documentaries and shorts.

One film that influenced him deep inside was “Bicycle Thieves” which attracted him towards independent filmmaking. He was also greatly influenced by Rabindra Nath Tagore and made a documentary on him.

His work revolved mainly around poverty, children and apathy in a women’s life . In 1962, Ray directed Kanchenjungha, which was his first original screenplay and colour film.

He won 32 Indian National Film Awards.He was one of only three filmmakers to win Golden Silver Bear more than once .Ray is the second film personality after Chaplin to have been awarded honorary doctorates by Oxford University.He was awarded Bharat Ratna shortly before his death in 1992. He also got the Akira Kurosawa Award for Lifetime Achievement in Direction at San Francisco International Film Festival after his death.

Year after year he was included in the list of greatest filmmakers of all time by several magazines.In 1992, the Sight & Sound Critics’ Top Ten Poll ranked Ray at no.7 in its list of “Top 10 Directors” of all time, making him the highest-ranking Asian filmmaker in the poll.In 2002, the Sight & Sound critics’ and directors’ poll ranked Ray at no.22 in its list of all-time greatest directors thus making him the 4th highest-ranking Asian filmmaker in the poll.In 1996, Entertainment Weekly magazine ranked Ray at no.25 in its “50 Greatest Directors” list.In 2007, Total Film magazine included Ray in its “100 Greatest Film Directors Ever” list.

Akira Kurosawa, once said, “Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”

His 2 movies have been included in Time magazine’s “All-TIME” 100 best movies.

He has worked as a choreographer and Actor at one time.His first movie introduced a new technical concept in Indian cinema ,Close up shots with 100mm lens which later was referred on his name in filmmaking.British film magazine Sight & Sound poll ranked him at 73 in its list of all-time greatest directors, thus making him the Eighth highest-ranking Asian filmmaker in the poll.

Guru Dutt credited with several cult movies in Indian cinema was the legendary filmmaker behind movies like Sahab,Biwi aur Gulam and Chaudhvin Ka Chand.

Pyaasa and Kaagaz ke Phool are included in all time 100 best movies.Theatres in  Germany,France and Japan were full packed when they screened any of Guru Dutt’s movies.In the initial stage of his career he worked with Prabhat Film company,Pune for 3yrs till 1947. After coming to Mumbai he assisted two directors.In 1951 his first film as director, Baazi was released.This movies was produced under the banner of Dev Anand’s company Navketan. His second film Jaal was also a super hit flick.He also introduced Waheeda Rehman to Hindi cinema under his production in C.I.D starring Dev Anand. He and Dev anand were very close friends for many years.His film Sahab,Biwi aur Gulam won the filmfare award in Best film category directed by Abrar Alvi.

Though his movies could not earn enough money at box office he earned the status of a legendary filmmaker making cult movies one after the other. He acted in 16 films and Picnic was his last film in 1964.He died the same year after consuming alcohol and sleeping pills at night.

Once Dev Anand quoted Guru Dutt as “My only true friend in the film industry. We got close to each other while working for Prabhat Film company.

On failure of Kaagaz Ke Phool and success of Chaudhvin Ka Chand he said “What is there in life, friend? There are only two things – success and failure. There is nothing in between.”

In recent time Bollywood has witnessed more of failure and less of success.With more than 300 movies producing every year alone in Hindi cinema,not even 50 films gets audience appreciation. Very few directors now make cult films irrespective of their fate at box office.

First It was SlumDog Millionaire ,then it was Smile Pinki and now it’s Kavi ,a short film by a foreign filmmaker focusing on the problem of child labour in India is nominated for Oscars. Its a 19-minute fictional film about a young boy who wants to escape from the brick kiln where he is forced to work as a modern-day salve. Kavi will be the first fictional film of its kind to expose the reality of bonded labor, a form of modern slavery.

Written-directed and produced by Gregg Helvey, it has been selected in “Short Film” (Live Action) category of 82nd Academy Awards.

It will compete with “The Door“(Juanita Wilson, James Flynn), “Instead of Abracadabra” (Patrik Eklund, Mathias Fjellstrom), “Miracle Fish” (Luke Doolan, Drew Bailey), and “The New Tenants” (Joachim Back, Tivi Magnusson).

Gregg Helvey made this film as his thesis project and completed in 8days with just Rs. 14lakhs .The 82nd Academy Awards presentation will take place on 7th Mar in Hollywood.

This is another effort by a foreign filmmaker to show the adversity and poverty surrounding poor class in India.Though “Harishchandra factory” was sent as an official entry to Oscars from India, it failed to get nominated in any category.

Finally heat is over and winners for 56th National film awards have been announced for the year 2008. Some speculations got right while few winners completely surprised us . A complete list of all the winners

Best Feature film   —Antaheen

Best Director –Sh. Bala for Tamil film Naan Kadauul.

Best Actor — Upendra Limaye for the Marathi movie Jogva

Best Actress-–Priyanka chopra for Fashion

Best Supporting actress– Kangana Ranaut for Fashion

Best Supporting Actor –Arjun Rampal for Rock ON

Best Cinematography—Antaheen

Best Editing –Firaaq

Best Art Direction –-Firaaq

Best Lyrics –Antaheen

Best Male Playback Singer– Hariharan

Best Female Playback Singer —Shreya Ghoshal for Antaheen

Best Child Artist –Master Shams Patel for Thanks Maa

Best Film on Family values —‘Little Zizou’ (English, Gujarati)

Best Children’s Film Award—Kannada film Gubbachigalu

Best Costume Designer –Neeta Lulla for Jodha Akbar

Best Choreography –Chinni Prakash and Rekha Prakash for the song ‘Azeem-o-shaan shehenshah’ in Jodha Akbar

Best First Film of a director–’A Wednesday’

Best Animation film–’Roadside Romeo’

Best Popular film—Oye Lucky lucky Oye

Best Special effects—Govardhan for Mumbai meri Jaan

8 Films were selected for the ‘Best Feature Film in each of the language

Best Assamese Film – Mon Jai

Best Bengali Film – Shob Charitro Kalponik

Best Hindi Film – Rock On

Best Kannada Film- Vimukthi

Best Malayalam Film Thirakkada

Best Marathi Film Harishcnadrachi Factory

Best Tamil Film Veranam Airam

Best Telugu Film – 1940 Lookagramam

Special Jury Award Malayalam film ‘Bioscope’

The award function will be held in the month of October,2010 in New Delhi.

Last month Fevicol , the famous brand of Pidilite Industries Ltd. completed 50yrs since its inception in 1959. It has been ranked 54th amongst India’s Top 100 Most Trusted Brands in a market survey.Fevicol commercial are quite popular among consumers and has won several International awards for many years.This time Ogilvy & Mather developed a Moochwali ad for celebrating 50 yrs  wherein  a small gal is shown with moustaches while doing a stage play and it was stuck on her face with the help of a little dab of Fevicol .Moustache remains on her upper lip throughout her life until she dies and then takes rebirth with moustaches as a gesture towards the concept of reincarnation  showing the ever lasting association for many births.

She is shown in various stages of her life as a newly married bride, an eager mother, a middle aged woman, one nearing old age and the last, finally, on her death bed, all the while, sporting the moustache. With this commercial aired on television speculation in the market has already started about it’s nomination and winning prospects for the next advertising festivals.

What do you expect from a boy if he makes a film with a normal camera given by his father on his 12^th birthday.This small guy went on to win National Film Award for best feature film in Hindi not once and twice but 7 times. He was also awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement for his contribution to Indian cinema in 2005.We’re talking about none other than our legend filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

He spend the first few years of his career in Advertising agencies in Bombay.Till 1974 he made hundreds of ad films and documentaries and then best thing that brought him in limelight among the industry and media, Ankur,his first feature film about economic and sexual exploitation from his home state Andhra Pradesh.A year after he made Nishant which won the National film award in best feature film category. Year after year he kept on making cult films. Manthan,Bhumika,Junoon,Arohan and the list goes on when we talk about the great movies in 70’s and 80’s era which were also nominated at several International film awards.

He also directed a television serial “Bharat Ek Khoj” based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s book, Discovery of India for Indian Railways .In 1982 he made a movie based on the life of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray which won the National award for Best biographical film.

Though he is considered as one of the best directors of parallel cinema he also tried his hands in mainstream cinema with making of Zubeidaa which again bagged the National film Award for best feature film in the year 2001.

In 2008 when “Welcome to Sajjanpur” was released an Indiatimes review said, “Shyam Benegal has always been accredited as a mesmerizing storyteller known for making ‘meaningful’ cinema. This time he also caters to commercial consumers, coming up with his most ‘entertaining’ attempt, by far”. Though it couldn’t perform well at box office it was much critically acclaimed by media houses .Now the maverick filmmaker is ready with his new project “Well Done Abba” which is currently being screened at some of the prestigious film festival across the world will  be released very soon.

At the age of 75 and with more than 70 films to his credit he is still the same man who believes in his own style of filmmaking , no matter it earns money or not but at the end it earns applause from all savvy segments.