Special Feature: Kurbaan -a case study

Kurbaan, a film that had- Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor as the lead pair, Dharma Productions (read Karan Johar) at the helm of production and seasoned ad filmmaker like Rensil D'Silva, as the director could have well been a profit making film. It had all the 'essentials' to make a blockbuster.

However, forget being a blockbuster, it failed to garner even a decent opening. If trade figures are to be believed, it took an abysmal 20-30 percent opening, with no signs of reviving and this is in spite of good reviews from almost all the critics.

Why didn’t the audience were ‘Kurbaan’ on Kurbaan? What put the audience off Kurbaan was it the content? It can’t be because if the content was bad then it should’ve at least opened well and then nose-dived, which wasn’t the case with this film as even the opening was so weak that one wondered why? Why did the audience didn’t even give this film a fair chance or a fair share of their eyeballs?

I feel wrong marketing and messaging of the film killed the enthusiasm of the audience even before it released. It was clearly a case of how wrong can one go in gauging the pulse of the audience and how one wants to be “different” for the sake of being different. Sure, Kareena’s bare back against Saif’s bare torso makes for a cool and hatke picture from the publicity stills point of view, but is it adding value to your product? Was it the right messaging? I doubt it.

The stark imagery, the spine-chilling shots, Saif Ali Khan’s shot where he is poking a knife in his chest…in the name of publicity, gave an extremely grim appearance to the film. While the makers and the actors of the film were repeating it in every media interaction that Kurbaan was an edgy, racy thriller…set against the backdrop of a love story, the imagery certainly didn’t portray that! One can recall watching “Date with Kurbaan” where Kareena and Saif waxed eloquent about the film. The soft demeanor in which the leading actors spoke of the film hardly went in tandem with the promos on print and channels. A racy thriller doesn’t need to be grim and morose!

While one should laud Dharma for the variety of stories that it’s trying to tell, by telling a story looking at the global terrorism with a realistic frame, especially in these times when comedies are clearly ruling the roost. In these times when films like All the best, which are run of the mills comedies are opening to packed houses, Dharma and UTV should’ve paid a little more attention to the “messaging” that went out for Kurbaan. Let’s face it, in today’s uncertain times where one doesn’t know whether a morning walk would turn into a ride to the hospital, the audiences are in no mood to see dark films, which portray grim, sad and stark realities of life.

“Aaj kal ki zindagi mein kya problems kam hain jo hum aisee picturein dekhen,” was the blunt observation of an office colleague. Like it or not, this is the reality of the junta who pays for tickets. No one and I repeat no one wants to see grimness and sadness.

Another wrong move, which I feel hampered the prospects of the film were the number of prints with which it was released. I am not sure if it was because UTV had acquired the film under such a hefty price that it was compelled to release it with as many prints as it did or was it as plain and simple as reaching out to as many people as possible. If was the latter then clearly the things weren’t thought through completely. With more than 1400 prints, you cannot possibly release a “thriller” which is publicized as (for the lack of a better word) a “serious” watch. Even if it was a thriller- Indian audience, by any standards, don’t watch thrillers half as much as they enjoy a romance or a comedy.

Another factor that should’ve been taken into consideration is the timing of the release. As we inch closer towards the first anniversary of 26/11, people of India are witnessing enough “reality” on various mediums to again be reminded of the terror in today’s times via a film. We have all the channels, newspapers, radio and every other perceivable medium shouting from rooftops reminding us of what happened a year back, we don’t need to pay and watch another reminder.

To sum it up– wrong messaging via all mediums, flooding the market with prints and wrong timing of release did the film in. The least a film of this stature could’ve done is garnered a decent opening but it didn’t and the results are for everyone to see. It only goes to show how messaging and packaging a film can make or break it. Forget word-of-mouth, you won’t even be able to get a decent number of people to see the film in the first place, even if two superstars and a superstar production house helm it. Nobody is bigger than the audience perception.