Innovative Bollywood eclipses Hollywood

There's no dearth of innovation when Bollywood steps out to promote its movies.

Be it star appearances on TV shows and news programmes, judging reality shows or even one- to- one interactions with the public, Bollywood is ever ready to garner publicity for its films and actors.

But even by Bollywood standards, hijacking a movie’s premiere to promote another is quite unheard of. And that’s exactly what happened on Thursday, when the cast of forthcoming release Aisha landed at the premiere of the much- awaited Hollywood flick Eclipse from The Twilight Saga.

With the exception of Abhay Deol, all actors of Aisha made an appearance at PVR. The long list included Sonam Kapoor, Ira Dubey, Lisa Haydon, Amrita Puri, Cyrus Sahukar and Arunoday Singh.

And it’s not as if they came as a bunch of friends keen to watch the Hollywood flick. They were there as Aisha ’s team, more than willing to oblige the shutterbugs. Though outsiders may have found this unusual, industry insiders say there is no written protocol on such matters.

Ad- man Prahlad Kakkar says, “ Movie premieres are not what they used to be in the old days when the entire film fraternity would mark its presence. These days, stars also prefer watching Hollywood flicks at home on DVD or at premieres where they can skip all the fanfare. In this case, it is an opportunity for Aisha ’s team to meet and interact with the press while also lending some credence to the film Eclipse . The more the merrier.” Sanjay V. Ahire, COO, Percept Pictures, agrees: “ It is all part of marketing. For example, Aamir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra of 3 Idiots attended the premier of Paa . As long as you are invited, it’s alright. Even if your marketing is edgy and different, if it works for your film it’s great.” At the premiere, Sonam exuded a cool confidence in her designer dress. But at most promotional events, her co- stars in the film look equally if not more stylish than her.

Ira Dubey’s glittering Dior dress at the recent music launch and Lisa Hayden’s casual elegance on Thursday in a white Mandira Wirk number - it was offset by her new tan - gave Sonam some stiff fashion competition.

One wonders how she remains as cool as a cucumber while her fashion icon status is so openly challenged.