Many a time, even if a film didn’t work, its promotional interviews were so entertaining that they stayed in people’s memories.
However, over time, film promotion has become a dying art, and many believe one of the biggest culprits behind it are publicists and marketing agencies.
In recent times, movie promotions have been lacking the entertainment value they once had. The actors themselves often seem uninterested and unexcited during interviews.
If they themselves aren’t having fun, how do they expect the audience to?
Promoting a film now just feels like a task, something to check off as part of the marketing process.
For example, Akshay Kumar’s films may not be doing great at the box office, but his interviews still stand out. He seems to enjoy them, or at least puts in the effort to make them entertaining for the audience.
For many others, though, it just feels like a chore. In most cases, these interviews are filled with carefully screened and rehearsed Q&As, where the PR team is busy curating a polished image of the actor in front of the media.
Instead of being an unfiltered conversation between the actors and the audience, it’s just another attempt at image-building.
And that’s having a real impact on films.
Good and engaging promotions get people talking about the actors, and that, in turn, creates awareness about the film. Boring promotions get no attention and are simply forgotten, just like some of the films they’re promoting.
Interviewers are asked to submit questions beforehand. Controversial topics are removed. Nothing spontaneous ever comes up. It’s all safe, scripted, monotonous, and painfully dull.
Some interviewers have even revealed that celebrity PR teams ask them to remove rapid-fire segments because they might cause controversy.
Some even say that whatever one may think of Sandeep Reddy Vanga, they appreciate that in interviews, he’s unfiltered and says what he believes in. He doesn’t censor himself to create a perfect public image.
But trying so hard to preserve a spotless, star-like image doesn’t just harm how audiences view actors, it also hurts the film industry itself.
Paid reviews, fake block bookings, and filtered, boring interviews are simply the industry’s way of making things harder for itself rather than helping anyone.
Promotions are more than just interviews. They’re a way to connect with people. And that lost art needs to be revived before the industry suffers even more because of its absence.
