Anushka to connect with fans via WhatsApp for 'Phillauri'

In a fresh twist to film-marketing, the makers of "Phillauri" will have actress Anushka Sharma calling fans every week to engage with them on the movie in which she plays a friendly spirit. This activity will have the concept of invisibility taking centre-stage.

"A celebrity going invisible during a film's promotion is a first and we would like to continue creating ground-breaking ideas that transcend conventional norms of engagement," Shikha Kapur, Chief Marketing Officer, Fox Star Studios, said in a statement.

Since Anushka is playing a friendly neighbourhood spirit in the movie, to take this thought forward, she has got a personal phone number registered in the name of Shashi -- the character from the film that she is playing. She will be available to interact with fans through WhatsApp's Video Calling feature.

The number is 9867473178. The fans will need to add Shashi on their Whatsapp contact and they will have direct access to her.

The number will be constantly used by her through the campaign of "Phillauri" to engage with her fans who will get exclusive access to film's promotional content too, the statement read.

Explaining the innovation further, Kapur said: "The unique storyline of 'Phillauri' where the lead actor plays a friendly spirit who cannot be seen by people, gives us the opportunity to create a campaign that is imaginative and differentiated with 'invisibility' taking centre stage as the unique proposition.

"For 'Phillauri', we have created ideas that are experiential in nature and invoke participation from the target audience. What's up with Shashi is one such idea on Whatsapp where we tap into the reach of the chatting platform in the country (160 million monthly users) and encourage engagement with Shashi in a never been done before manner."

"Phillauri" has been produced by Fox Star Studios and Clean Slate Films and has been directed by Anshai Lal. It is releasing on March 24.

--IANS

rb/dg