'Bombay Velvet' team in Goa, sets new precedent for film promotion

Team "Bombay Velvet" is having a "small little party" in Goa! Instead of doing the mundane and arduous city-to-city visits ahead of the movie's release, they have congregated here along with film journalists from four cities for a "celebration".

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who acts in the film conjectures it is "trend-setting" for Bollywood.

"This feel like it's done in Hollywood," said Karan, adding: "This will set a precedent for film promotion (in Bollywood) and it will be trend-setting. As a film producer, I'm definitely going to do this often."

It is quite a jamboree with about 100 people assembled at a south Goa resort. Journalists, both print and TV, from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad landed here on Monday, joining the film's team - actors Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan, Vivaan Shah, Satyadeep Misra and Siddhartha Basu; director Anurag; producers Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl; composer Amit Trivedi, writers Vasan Bala and S.Thanikachalam; and officials of Fox Star Studios, which has co-produced and is distributing the film.

Breaking away from his superstar image, Ranbir, who is among the top-rung actors of Hindi cinema of the present day, looked cool, casual and relaxed as he sat on the floor to chat up with a mixed group of scribes.

"This was my idea," he said, referring to the "small little party" to celebrate the hardwork that has gone behind the period drama, which encapsulates the era of 1950s and 1960s.

"We felt that if we get everyone together, it's going to be a nice change. Besides, when we travel from one city to another, we barely get five minutes with each person...but this way, everyone gets to explore the movie in a better way," said the actor.

As a bonus, those in attendance were also given a special sneak peek into seven minutes of the movie, which is due to hit screens on May 15.

From the look of it, it seemed like a gripping drama which will teleport viewers to a bygone era -- courtesy the detailing in costume, makeup, set design, the body language, the language and the of course, the jazz!

Talking of jazz -- a live experience of the 'Hindi Jazz', developed by the talented Amit Trivedi, is also included as part of the promotion plan.

A source said the effort was to "make the media happy".

But like the filmmakers themselves say "content is the king", one has to wait and watch if "Bombay Velvet" -- which according to Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh, is "the kind of cinema we need to start making because the audience is changing" -- is truly in sync with the taste of the evolving Indian film audience.

(The writer's trip is at the invitation of Fox Star Studios. Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)