Although the Indian Film Industry and Hollywood are both loaded with heaps of talent, and distinguished artists, Hollywood has always seemed to be a guiding figure for the Hindi film industry. Bollywood has remade some American films, admired the professionals working in the industry, and always made a comparison between the nuances and large advantages/disadvantages each industry has. However, one special addition from Hollywood which the industry has recently been attempting in it’s marketing department is the release of teaser trailers. Lately the trailers of two Shahrukh Khan films have been released for audiences, and have garnered quite some excitement and buzz amongst Shahrukh’s lovers. The teaser trailer for the film ‘Fan’ which is set to release on April 15, 2016, and ‘Raees’ which scheduled for a release on Eid 2016, have as expected, met with extremely positive feedback. Hollywood is known for releasing teaser trailers before grand films, and it has always worked in their favor. For example, some famous films that had released teaser trailers were ‘Interstellar’ (2014), ‘The Dark Night Rises’ (2012), and recently ‘Batman v Superman’ (2016).
As Bollywood takes these firsts with its marketing, we are keen to see what the turn out of these films will be like once they actually release. The last time a teaser was seen before a Hindi film was in Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ which was a huge success .The teaser trailers could have both, a positive and a negative impact on the success of the films. As of now, promotion seems to be working in generating the excitement, but will it proliferate within the next year? What if teaser trailers have the counter effect on audiences than what is expected, and slowly the excitement has died out once the film is ready to release? An example of this would be the teaser for ‘Fan’ that has just hit over 3 million views. Although this can demonstrate Shahrukh’s effect on audiences, nothing is quite clear as how people will grow with these teasers. If so much publicity and excitement is compiled so quickly, will the buzz continue? Or is it bound to drop? Interestingly enough, the trailer of ‘Raees’ has reportedly been attached to Salman’s ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. This serves as controversy since Salman’s upcoming film ‘Sultan’ is scheduled for release on the same day as Shahrukh’s ‘Raees’ next year. Shahrukh has definitely taken quite a risk, and how his films will do is a bit uncertain, but at this point King Khan really has nothing to lose. With his star power, rank in the industry, and his ‘fans’ support, his films will hopefully see a bright future.
