Time was when Hindi films or Bollywood films, the really good ones, ran on for weeks and weeks on end and celebrated silver, golden, as well as platinum jubilee anniversaries in selected theatres of Bombay. The advance bookings opened on Monday morning. From the evening before, people stood in queues outside the theatres, sleeping on their feet, to be privileged and book their first day, first Bollywood movie seats. Fights frequently broke out and the police had to be on standby to control the crowd. See the serpentine line outside Minerva in Grant Road for Sholay? That’s an advance booking queue. And in the 35th week! G. P. Sippy’s blockbuster of August 15, 1975, ran on for five years at Minerva. How the producer must have laughed all the way to the bank! There used to be no pre-publicity back in the day. Just black-and-white ads in the dailies during the week of release. And those were enough to bring in the audience. No meet-and-greet the cast for diehard fans, no exclusive interviews for chummy Bollywood journos, no television with chat shows to go on and promote their films. Just plain word-of-mouth to sell a film. And the excitement of reading about it in Screen, Filmfare, Stardust, and Star & Style issues at the barber’s shop.
Films Today
Today, the opening weekend is enough to make or break a film. A three-day run at the box office. After the film is announced a year earlier when it goes on the floors, there are visits to the sets for the press, interviews for print, broadcast and digital media, juicy tidbits leaked out to gullible scribes by crafty PRs, the first look of the film is launched at a multiplex with great pomp and the lead actors revealing the first poster, then there are screenings at multiplexes followed by lunch for the film’s songs, its trailer teaser, the actual trailer, the stars go on Kapil Sharma’s show, they go on Amitabh Bachchan’s KBC and Rohit Shetty’s KKK, big money is spent on hoardings and press ads, they showcase their films at the IPL final, the stars undertake road shows in many cities to take their release to the janta. Back then, Bombay had few single-screen theatres with four shows. Today, we have many multiplexes with several screens and shows beginning as early as 6 am and as late as midnight. And still, the Bollywood films don’t run even for two weeks. Are we getting more snobbish as an audience? Or are filmmakers producing utter rubbish and passing it off as entertainment?
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, as well as columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience as well as knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
About Storyofsouls
Leave your comments on how did you like this story. If you love it do share it to bring that change that we wish to see in the world.
You can also share your inspiring story with us at replytosos@gmail.com. Story Of Souls is an initiative where we invite people to bring their stories to us. We want people to “write to heal.” The idea of Storyofsouls is appreciated by ALL INDIA RADIO. An Online Platform where you can share your real-life stories. The impact of our stories has reached the UN, and Harvard University. On some real-life stories, we also plan web series. You can also visit our Youtube channel. You can follow us on Facebook LinkedIn Instagram
Storyofsouls is glad to inform you that we are now a Google news verified platform.
