Yash Raj Films goes ballistic with ‘New York’
By SAMPURNThursday, June 25, 2009
Yash Raj Films has never been known for getting aggressive when it comes to the promotion of their films. However, they changed their strategy in 2008 when they heavily promoted ‘Tashan’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ followed by ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. While ‘Tashan’ tanked (for all the right reasons), the other two went on to be successful at the box office. In the same year, Yash Raj Films also had ‘Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic’ and ‘Roadside Romeo’. Perhaps the production house was aware about the kind of products they had in their hands and refrained from spending any extra moolah in bringing the films to the audience. Result? Both the flicks were super flops.
However, their confidence in ‘New York’ seems to be quite high, what with a fortune being spent on the promotion of this Kabir Khan directed dramatic thriller. Even though the makers had less than a month to get their PR machinery in full swing and promotion being extended to various forums (print, internet, television, radio, outdoor banners, in-multiplex publicity etc.), kudos to them for ensuring that film enthusiasts were aware of 26th June being the date when ‘New York’ arrives.
With all the dilly-dallying happening around the producers v/s multiplex stand off being resolved, ‘New York’ got into the fifth gear the moment strike was off. One of the first films to have it’s release date announced at such a short notice, ‘New York’ has been pretty much alive and happening over last few weeks.
All of this means that the makers have done their job right in bringing the film to the audience. It’s now up to the money spending junta to decide if it wants to watch the film on the big screens or not. Going by the general buzz, it pretty much appears to be the case with the target audience, the youth, being reasonably enticed to give the film a dekko.
Though it won’t be fair to expect a 100% turnout on the first day of the film’s release, ‘New York’, which boasts of a serious though contemporary theme, should find acceptance from that segment of audience that wants to have it’s cinema different from the ‘ishq-vishk-pyaar-vyaar’ routine. One can expect around 50% turnaround on the first day followed by a greater occupancy as the weekend progresses.
Of course a lot will depend upon the word of mouth and the reviews but keeping in mind Kabir Khan’s last outing ‘Kabul Express’, it is difficult to imagine him coming up with something which is sub-par. Add to that the star appeal of John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Neil Nitin Mukesh along with Irrfan Khan’s presence in the enterprise and one could well be staring at a potential surprise success of the season.
All said and done, Yash Raj Films and the team of ‘New York’ would be keeping it’s fingers crossed for the first weekend to do the trick and get a sustained audience over the remainder of the week because coming weekend, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor would be arriving with the biggest movie of the season ‘Kambakkth Ishq’. It is truly now or never situation for everyone associated with ‘New York’ here!
