Actor Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori’s explicit sexual chemistry in the Kites posters got people speculating about marital discord in the Roshan household. Actress Kareena Kapoor’s bare bodied Kurbaan poster angered activists, who went to the extent of covering the hoardings with a sari. Now, a poster of the upcoming film, Prince, showing actor Vivek Oberoi smooching actress Aruna Shields, has started the debate on whether film posters have become unnecessarily bold.
Kumar Taurani of Tips, which is producing the film, Prince says, “A lip-lock in a poster can arouse curiosity, but that’s not it. It has to go with the theme of the film. We are showing what the film is about.”
In the past months, several other movie posters have gone the bold way. Apart from Kurbaan and Kites, the posters of Jail and Fired too left little to imagination. Bollywood trade analyst, Taran Adarsh, explains, “A poster has to encapsulate the theme of the film. So if you have a love story, you can’t show two flowers shaking ...Times have changed and these bolder posters are in tune with the times.” Filmmaker Vikram Kumar, who made 13B, says, “Any PR is good PR. Such posters generate controversy and give the film free press. There is more awareness about these films than about others.”
But controversy may not always be a good thing. The posters of Kurbaan, brought Saif and Kareena under attack by activists. Both however, maintained that the poster was “aesthetically shot” and there was nothing wrong with it. Actor Rahul Bose, who stars in Fired, feels a poster should never oversell the film. “If, in a pressure to attract the audience, one oversells the film, it is bad. I feel two people kissing in a poster generates bad buzz since it gives the impression that it’s a B-grade film.”
{{/usCountry}}But controversy may not always be a good thing. The posters of Kurbaan, brought Saif and Kareena under attack by activists. Both however, maintained that the poster was “aesthetically shot” and there was nothing wrong with it. Actor Rahul Bose, who stars in Fired, feels a poster should never oversell the film. “If, in a pressure to attract the audience, one oversells the film, it is bad. I feel two people kissing in a poster generates bad buzz since it gives the impression that it’s a B-grade film.”
{{/usCountry}}Filmmaker Vashu Bhagnani adds, “People know what the film is about by seeing its promos. They don’t fall for the posters.
-Inputs from Rahul Sabharwal