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Marketing and Promotions in Bollywood >> 109

basis. Here, for example, is an excerpt from a research summary that out-
lines the results of integrating Bournvita, a children’s drink, in the film Krrish
(Rakesh Roshan, 2006). 50
Echoing explanations offered by Malhotra at MTV-India and other mar-
keting/PR professionals, Bhatt too asserted that an increasing number of film
industry professionals, particularly those in corporatized companies such as
UTV, were now willing to speak the language that such reports relied on.
People at companies like UTV and even at small-scale production compa-
nies, Bhatt argued, were now much more aware of brands and knew how
to think about associating specific brands with films. He also went on to
admit that agreements, contracts, and market research-driven practices did
not always work in an industry in which powerful independent producers
and directors continued to wield considerable influence. The business he was
involved in, he explained, remained “relationship driven, but nowadays in a
slightly different way”:

Earlier, it felt like producers were doing brands a favor by including one or
two products. Like DDLJ and Strohs Beer. You would have the producer
saying “yeh ho jayega” (it will be done), no contract or anything. Now that
aspect has changed. But, it is still a relationship basis. That is what deter-
mines whether you are going to get the next contract. So you’re servicing
the producer as much as the film itself. We work with Red Chillies, Dharma
Productions, Shree Ashtavinayak . . . you cannot piss off anyone.

***

Malhotra’s account of MTV-India’s relations with the film industry, medi-
ated by everything from market research-driven PowerPoint presentations to
notions of “dovetailing cool with Bollywood,” and Bhatt’s reflections on how
an agency like Madison Mates designs and manages deals between filmmak-
ers and a range of commodities, are particularly revealing. Even as they draw
attention to some of the challenges involved in brokering ties between indus-
tries that operate with different economic logics and definitions of value,
they also make it clear that this seeming incommensurability was never an
insurmountable barrier. Kajri Jain’s insights into the circulation of commodi-
ties that move across different “constellations of value” are useful in order
to understand negotiations between different media sectors in Bombay. Jain
suggests that it is not very productive to approach commodities like a bazaar
calendar image “simply as a ‘text’ or sign to be ‘read.’” Instead, she argues, it is