Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Om Shanti Om vs Saawariya - The Final Countdown
The D day for the two biggies
Diwali 2006 had more than its share of fireworks what with the box office battle between Shahrukh Khan’s Don & the Salman-Akshay starrer ‘Jaaneman’!
It was a battle won hands down that time by Shahrukh and now he is back in the fray. This Diwali, the stakes are higher – it’s home production ‘Om Shanti Om’ versus Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’. Propped up by the money muscle of producers Sony Pictures, ‘Saawariya’ has had a high intensity and mega bucks promotion campaign, pretty unprecedented for a film with a newcomer cast and enough to get Shahrukh Khan, the producer pretty competitive!
So says SRK, “I think I have no comparison with ‘Saawariya’. On 9th of November only one film is releasing for me i.e. ‘Om Shanti Om’ and with full love and respect to Saawariya, as a producer I have to be very competitive. So if Sony Columbia tries to come in, I'll try to bite their head off. I am going to eat them up. My film has to do well because my audience expects that of me and I can’t let them down.”
Om Shanti Om (OSO) is going all out to make sure that it is the first viewing choice this Diwali. In fact the rumour mills worked overtime to suggest that the two biggies were also tussling for screen time. On last count, Saawariya was going in for 500-600 prints release while OSO had a 900-1000 prints release. Distributors of OSO, Eros International though say that there is no battle between the films when it comes to hogging theatre space!
Jyoti Despande, COO, Eros International clarifies, “I am sure Sony's been able to secure the screens that they want to. We've been able secure the screens that we want to. Even if money could buy more screens we do not wish to put OSO out there in any more screens. It’s going to be the widest release India has ever seen. So we are pretty happy with our efforts so far and in the end the audiences will choose what is going to have a longer haul.”
Both films have matched their promotion campaigns step by step but the strategy has been different. OSO’s biggest selling point is Shahrukh Khan, and he’s done the honours- be it celebrating his birthday on national television to walking the ramp to becoming the unofficial T20 mascot. Leading lady Deepika Padukone on the other hand seems to have become the unofficial mascot for the Indian cricket squad. Good for her and good for the OSO publicity machinery!
Not to be outdone, Saawariya’s pulled out all the stops – making its publicity a family affair with Anil Kapoor, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor putting their best foot forward and literally at that in a bid to keep Saawariya ahead! Much hyped debutant, Ranbir Kapoor though would rather not get into comparisons.
Justifies Ranbir, “I cannot even think of comparing a hair strand to SRK's hair strand because he's such a great actor. He's achieved so much in life. I have been a big fan of his so please don’t do that. It’s more than being unfair to me it’s unfair to him. His contribution to cinema, his achievements are humongous so don’t put him down by even mentioning my name with his.”
Ranbir has a point there but doesn’t look like ‘Saawariya’ is throwing in the towel yet! Yes – the latest promotion salvo is Ranbir in this peek- a- boo song. You hold your breath wondering if he can hold on to his precariously placed towel and realize that the legendary six pack has been displaced in your mind space.
This may have been the point of the exercise – if you can drop your shirt, we can drop our shirt and our towel, well almost! But on the other hand, while you pretty much know what OSO is about – from its famous star studded song to reincarnation, the makers of ‘Saawariya’ are keeping the lid on it rather firmly!
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the grand magician of a director behind Saawariya opines. “If all is revealed before the film releases, then there is no mystery to the plot and that I think should be saved till the release of the film.”
So that’s that then. November 9th is D- Day. Almost three months of intensive promotion and strategy will finally come to a head – may the better film win. In fact, hopefully for all concerned, may both the films win!
Kavita Ogale for E-Now
Diwali 2006 had more than its share of fireworks what with the box office battle between Shahrukh Khan’s Don & the Salman-Akshay starrer ‘Jaaneman’!
It was a battle won hands down that time by Shahrukh and now he is back in the fray. This Diwali, the stakes are higher – it’s home production ‘Om Shanti Om’ versus Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’. Propped up by the money muscle of producers Sony Pictures, ‘Saawariya’ has had a high intensity and mega bucks promotion campaign, pretty unprecedented for a film with a newcomer cast and enough to get Shahrukh Khan, the producer pretty competitive!
So says SRK, “I think I have no comparison with ‘Saawariya’. On 9th of November only one film is releasing for me i.e. ‘Om Shanti Om’ and with full love and respect to Saawariya, as a producer I have to be very competitive. So if Sony Columbia tries to come in, I'll try to bite their head off. I am going to eat them up. My film has to do well because my audience expects that of me and I can’t let them down.”
Om Shanti Om (OSO) is going all out to make sure that it is the first viewing choice this Diwali. In fact the rumour mills worked overtime to suggest that the two biggies were also tussling for screen time. On last count, Saawariya was going in for 500-600 prints release while OSO had a 900-1000 prints release. Distributors of OSO, Eros International though say that there is no battle between the films when it comes to hogging theatre space!
Jyoti Despande, COO, Eros International clarifies, “I am sure Sony's been able to secure the screens that they want to. We've been able secure the screens that we want to. Even if money could buy more screens we do not wish to put OSO out there in any more screens. It’s going to be the widest release India has ever seen. So we are pretty happy with our efforts so far and in the end the audiences will choose what is going to have a longer haul.”
Both films have matched their promotion campaigns step by step but the strategy has been different. OSO’s biggest selling point is Shahrukh Khan, and he’s done the honours- be it celebrating his birthday on national television to walking the ramp to becoming the unofficial T20 mascot. Leading lady Deepika Padukone on the other hand seems to have become the unofficial mascot for the Indian cricket squad. Good for her and good for the OSO publicity machinery!
Not to be outdone, Saawariya’s pulled out all the stops – making its publicity a family affair with Anil Kapoor, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor putting their best foot forward and literally at that in a bid to keep Saawariya ahead! Much hyped debutant, Ranbir Kapoor though would rather not get into comparisons.
Justifies Ranbir, “I cannot even think of comparing a hair strand to SRK's hair strand because he's such a great actor. He's achieved so much in life. I have been a big fan of his so please don’t do that. It’s more than being unfair to me it’s unfair to him. His contribution to cinema, his achievements are humongous so don’t put him down by even mentioning my name with his.”
Ranbir has a point there but doesn’t look like ‘Saawariya’ is throwing in the towel yet! Yes – the latest promotion salvo is Ranbir in this peek- a- boo song. You hold your breath wondering if he can hold on to his precariously placed towel and realize that the legendary six pack has been displaced in your mind space.
This may have been the point of the exercise – if you can drop your shirt, we can drop our shirt and our towel, well almost! But on the other hand, while you pretty much know what OSO is about – from its famous star studded song to reincarnation, the makers of ‘Saawariya’ are keeping the lid on it rather firmly!
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the grand magician of a director behind Saawariya opines. “If all is revealed before the film releases, then there is no mystery to the plot and that I think should be saved till the release of the film.”
So that’s that then. November 9th is D- Day. Almost three months of intensive promotion and strategy will finally come to a head – may the better film win. In fact, hopefully for all concerned, may both the films win!
Kavita Ogale for E-Now
Labels: Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Farah Khan, Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan, Shreyas Talpade
Posted By Ivan Me ... at 7:16 PM
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