This is not related one particular hero or one particular movie. It is a universal epidemic across the major industries in Indian film industry. Also, we are not getting into the details of who started it all but rather we look at how it is working for the producers with a best case example. Fake records have existed for decades be it collections or centers, now with changing times we have new generation false records that are related to the online world.
[m9ad]
Almost a year ago there was this biggie which had very little hype from the beginning. And then a teaser arrived creating storm online. It set records and buzz on the film increased manifolds. The hype created around the teaser and its record were enough to sell the movie locally at record prices. The keyword here is “record views” rivaling that of Bollywood. That kick-started the hype overdrive on the film.
Getting back to the point, the views generated for the teaser were not genuine. A Certain amount was paid by the makers to create the views systematically. It happens periodically and is not abnormal. These are not ‘fake” views that get the videos removed (Remember 1 Nenokkadine?). These are paid views that show high count to the outside world, but the producers get nothing out of it. In fact, they have to shell money. They only get money for the ‘real’ views the video gets, not the exaggerated number we see outside.
The record views count here is a marketing ploy, and that’s how the movies can grab people’s attention. What follows after those views is a publicity blitz involving tags like a storm, king, emperor, etc. and fans buy into the narrative. It helps the producers that fans genuinely believe it to be a real record.
In Bollywood, such promotion has been rampant for years, and a certain Khan has had many records online. Unfortunately, the reality was different regarding the box office numbers. It proves that there is no correlation between online buzz and genuine interest among the people. Bollywood’s bad luck in this regard is that it is a wide market and such online records hardly register at ground level. TFI, in comparison, is small which helps in intense promotions that could reach ground level. As long as the views generate the buzz, expect the trend go on. views generate the buzz, expect the trend go on.
