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Marketing and Promotions in Bollywood >> 105

film industry professionals. I had met Bhatt on the sets of a film for which
his company had brokered a sponsorship deal with a major fashion maga-
zine produced in Bombay. The editor of the magazine had invited me to
attend this meeting where representatives from the fashion magazine (the
editor, art director, and marketing manager), the art director of the film, and
Bhatt intended to discuss various aspects of the “brand-film synergy.” In a
Film City (Goregaon) studio lot (Floor #11) where carpenters, electricians,
and other wage laborers were busy building the office space for the film, all
of us huddled around a table atop which the art director had built a model
of the office space.
Moving her cup of tea, ashtray, pack of cigarettes, and a few pens and
pencils to a larger worktable that had assorted design and drawing instru-
ments, the art director took a few minutes to outline her vision of the office
space. The description of the office layout that she provided became the
basis for a discussion about what kinds of “placements” would work best for
the fashion magazine—actual issues of the magazine strewn around, framed
magazine covers, a large 4x6 foot logo of the magazine on the wall opposite
the elevators in the building, coffee mugs with the magazine logo, ID tags
featuring the name of the magazine, and even a URL pointing to a con-
test (online and on the mobile phone platform) that was part of a broader
marketing campaign. After about half an hour of negotiating various “place-
ment” details and arriving at an agreement about “deliverables” (when the
team from the fashion magazine would deliver framed covers, when they
would get to see a detailed mock-up of the set, and so on), we were on our
way back to the magazine’s office. Throughout, Bhatt had said very little.
“I’m just the facilitator, you creative folks work it out,” he had said at the
beginning of the meeting.
“Do you think the director of the film cares about which magazine is part
of the film?” asked the editor, as soon as we were back in the cab we had
hired. “It’s his first big film, and all he cares about is whether it’s a hit or not.
And all these deals are about the producer making his money whether the
film does well or not. It’s just that this agency approached us and we said yes
because we know it’s a big banner film.” I was surprised by this reaction, hav-
ing just emerged from a meeting in which everyone had been highly enthu-
siastic, and the film’s art director had opened the conversation saying she had
just heard from the director of the film and that he was thrilled to have the
fashion magazine on board. “And it’s not just that,” the magazine’s art direc-
tor interrupted: “Our magazine won’t be the only product in the office. The
brands that each star endorses will also be a part of the space. Also, if they
decide that everyone at the magazine drinks Coke, then Coke will be a major