Face value: From Sridevi’s Mom to Arjun’s Daddy, these posters got the audience hooked

Film posters focusing on the face of the protagonist seem to be the current trend in Bollywood. Industry expert say they are good for generating curiosity.

What is similar between films made this year, such as Raees, Sarkar 3, Maatr, Mom, Daddy, Haseena and Simran? Take a close look at their posters and you will find the commonality. All these films have the face of the protagonist on the posters. From the intense-looking Shraddha Kapoor to the angry Arjun Rampal, these posters act as the window to film.

Sridevi in the poster of her new film Mom.

“Posters generate the initial interest and curiosity among audience who then decide to watch the film. For Raees, when I worked on Shah Rukh Khan’s face, it got a lot of attention,” says poster designer Rahul Nanda, who has also designed the posters of films such as Jab Harry Met Sejal and Baadshaho.

Raveena Tandon in the poster of Maatr.

Since the focus of the posters is on the face, Rahul says that it helps in highlighting the emotions of the characters. “People relate to emotions. It looks edgy and communicates the motif of the story to the audience,” says Rahul, adding, “For Mom, I’ve used different synonyms of the word ‘mother’ on the typography. Mother is one of the most searched words not only in English but also in various other languages. So I thought of using it on the poster along with Sridevi’s agonised face.” Similar effects have been used in the poster of Raveena Tandon’s starrer Maatr where her face is superimposed with different forms of the word mother.

Shah Rukh Khan played the role of Raees in Rahul Dholakia’s film having the same name.

However, adman Prahlad Kakkar says that using a face as a poster depends on the star quotient. He says, “Makers prefer focusing on the star. The trend of showing the whole cast is dying. Also, nowadays, many posters are released to constantly remind the audience about the film.”

Shraddha Kapoor had to put on extra kilos to play the role of Haseena Parker, sister of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

For filmmaker Apoorva Lakhia, it’s the content of the film that drives the makers to opt for such posters. “I wanted a poster for Haseena, who is a strong woman. The poster doesn’t reveal much about her except the wrath in her eyes. For biopics, I guess such posters become necessary as actors playing the role need to be introduced well. For Daddy, Arjun evolved himself to get into the role of Arun Gawli (gangster-turned-politician). It was important to put the spotlight on him. But for a romantic film like Jab Harry Met Sejal, one can’t focus on a single face since the film is about both Shah Rukh (Khan) and Anushka (Sharma),” says Apoorva.

Arjun Rampal plays the role of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli in Daddy.

Follow @htshowbiz for more