The Hindu Business Line : Spot the advertisment in Telugu films

When a mobile rings in the upcoming Nagarjuna starrer, it is likely to be Airtel's signature tune. You can also spot vinyl hoardings of Airtel in the backdrop wherever the script permits. In return, the largest mobile phone service provider will foot the film's publicity costs.

"The Telugu film industry is increasingly looking for support from corporates," Mr V.N. Aditya, a film director, told Business Line.

Mr Aditya, who will direct the Nagarjuna starrer, said of late more and more film producers were looking for such arrangements.

The trend across India too, according to a study, was picking up with the film industry reporting in-film advertising worth 2 per cent of the total Rs 5,900 crore revenue in 2004. The fact that music too earned similarrevenues indicated the growing importance of this advertising segment.

A case in point is the recently released multilingual film Shock, from the production house `The Factory' run by leading filmmaker Mr Ramgopal Varma. In its Telugu version, the hero Raviteja, who plays the role of a copywriter in an ad agency, promotes the Rupa brand of innerwear in the film's opening shot. The company paid nearly Rs 15 lakh. Reliance too chipped in, sources close to the filmmakers said.

The fact that a big-budget film spent nearly Rs one crore on publicity bears out the growing size of tie-ups with corporates. And filmmakers seem more than willing to alter scripts suitably to bag corporate advertisements.

Besides brand inserts in the film itself, in-film advertising also includes merchandising revenues for the film and its actors. "Raviteja himself is a brand. He has a target audience. Making him promote a product would mean a lot of promotion for the company," the sources said.

"Merchandising hasn't arrived yet in the Telugu field. Our producers have not been able to cash in on the popularity of the actors fully. It has got huge potential. It needs to be picked up," they said.

Realising the importance of corporate support, filmmakers are appointing specialists to help sell the idea to corporates.

Last year, ING Vysya reportedly invested about Rs 60 lakh towards the publicity for Naa Praanam Kante Yekkuva, produced by A&N Digital Fusion Pvt Ltd.

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