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  • Vicky Kaushal gets candid about his films, life and lot more in Femina’s December 2023 issue

    Vicky Kaushal gets candid about his films, life and lot more in Femina’s December 2023 issue

    Mumbai: Vicky Kaushal’s journey in the world of cinema has been nothing short of remarkable. From his memorable debut in Masaan to his acclaimed roles in films such as Manmarziyaan, Raazi, and Uri: The Surgical Strike, Kaushal has always been a standout actor in the industry. Yet, he is one who credits his ability to deliver varied performances over the years to his directors. Putting his heart and faith in director Meghna Gulzar, he took on the role of the legendary Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Sam Bahadur, which released earlier this month. In Femina’s December 2023 edition, we delve into the story of his evolution, highlighting his journey to becoming one of the finest actors we know. The cover story celebrates the compelling journey of an actor whose talent and commitment continue to have an enduring impact on the big screen.

     

    Speaking about his approach to acting and his life choices, Kaushal said, “Our job is to fake emotions, but, strangely, it is also about finding the truth in that and being honest at that. I just want people to connect to that honesty and that realness in me… In life, peace of mind really matters more to me than being right or making the right decision. I just say that this is what I’m feeling in my heart and I go by it; I ask God to take care of everything else.”

     

    Talking about his latest release and the character of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, he added, “I had to not walk or talk like myself; I had to create a different personality altogether. I made my instinct, my impulse, my physicality, and tonality all about his character. It has been a great opportunity, but you have to constantly remember that it is a big responsibility, you can’t take it lightly.”

     

    He also delves into his chosen philosophy for life, his regular self once the camera turns off, and his thoughts regarding karma, among other intriguing aspects.

  • “You Better Do A Good Job Because He’s Our Best Man” Indian Army’s advice to Vicky Kaushal ahead of Sam Bahadur

    “You Better Do A Good Job Because He’s Our Best Man” Indian Army’s advice to Vicky Kaushal ahead of Sam Bahadur

    Mumbai: Vicky Kaushal made his debut over eight years ago in the Neeraj Ghaywan directorial Masaan. Since then, he has established himself as one of the prominent actors in the country with notable performances across films including Raazi, Sanju, and Lust Stories, amongst others. In early stages of his career, Vicky won the National Award for Best Actor for his performance in Uri: The Surgical Strike. He will next be seen in the upcoming biographical war drama film Sam Bahadur which has been directed by Meghna Gulzar. Ahead of its release, Vicky appeared on the IMDb exclusive segment ‘Essential Guide to Vicky Kaushal’ where he spoke about his journey so far in Bollywood while sharing personal anecdotes of his upcoming film.

    Find out more below:

    Sharing his experience of shooting for Sam Bahadur, Kaushal mentioned, “Every time I would interact with the Indian Army, every time they would be like, ‘we are very happy you’re getting to play this role, but you better do a good job because he’s our best man and you’re playing our best man’. Most of the dialogues in the film, which sound like these filmy dialogues, are actually said by him, quote, unquote. And I’m just praying that when the film comes out, people feel the tribute that we wish to give to the man, to the legend.”

    Revealing the moment he knew he wanted to be an actor, Kaushal said, “During my engineering college days, we were taken to a multinational company. They showed us the work culture post completion of college. That day I knew what I didn’t want to do in life. So, I started asking myself what’s going to make me happy. That’s where I got the answer that once I finish graduation, I am going to become an actor.”

    Speaking of Masaan, the first film where he played a protagonist, Kaushal said, “I didn’t know that it was going to affect me so much. We shot in Banaras where there was magical magnetic energy, which just pulled me in. With this movie, I saw myself for the first time on the big screen at the Cannes Film Festival. One year prior to that, I was looking for opportunities, for a job, knocking doors.”

    Speaking of when he assisted Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur, Kaushal said,  “I consider it to be my film school  where I got the opportunity to assist Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur. It was a bunch of fantastic actors coming together to do this film. And it was also a film made with very limited resources. It did not have the vanity of a big-scale Bollywood film. I still carry those learnings with me, it still helps me when I’m performing.”

    Sharing his experience of working on Sanju, Kaushal said, “I got the opportunity to work with one of the best directors in the country, Rajkumar Hirani. Kamli was a beautiful character I got to play with some beautiful writing done for the film. I got to work with Ranbir. I had heard other actors say that it is a great feeling to be called by your character’s name. I got to experience that with Kamli. I got to live that moment with Sanju.”

    Speaking of the turning point of his career, Kaushal shared, “Uri: The Surgical Strike has to be my biggest turning point as an actor in terms of the success of the film, in terms of how well this film was received, celebrated. It was a tribute to the Indian army. For four months, there was a proper boot camp training which I had to undergo. I was trained by the Indian army. I got to win the National Award for this film, which is probably one of the happiest days of my life because it’s a huge honour.”

  • Trends that will shape the trajectory of content space and its marketing

    Trends that will shape the trajectory of content space and its marketing

    MUMBAI: Content and brands have coherently managed to revolutionise how the audience consumes daily content across all platforms. Engaging trends have been discovered in recent years like the advent of digital content. But as new platforms gain massive popularity, they demand a subtle shift in the substance of their content, be it TV series, television ads, short stories or full-fledged films. The way this content is measured needs to be altered.

    Here are the trends we believe have, and will shape the future trajectory of the content space and its marketing and discovery activities.

    Changing dynamics between Bollywood and brands/falling associations

    The association between Bollywood actors and brands has led to some legendary advertisements in the past. With our favourite romance actors using fragrant perfumes or our action heroes getting their adrenaline rush from flavourful sodas, our minds were enticed with aspirational imagery. In the recent years the heros and heroines are no longer the quintessential epitomes of beauty and machismo and are now more real and approachable. Similarly, the content in films has undergone a major transformation from fantasy to reality as well; with real films like Raazi, Thugs of Hindostan, Padman, Parmanu, Raid and more, which are no longer utopian but pragmatic and vulnerable. On account of this, the synergies and content in branding and films are being redefined. On the other hand  in lieu of the changing psychographics and mindsets, brands are also redefining the space and tonality. It will be sometime till this space goes back to multiple associations, till then we will see a decline from what was the case 5 years back.

    Discovering digital content

    The hurdled journey from creating content to posting it has become nullified with digital media. Short films can now become huge blockbusters at the click of a button. But those very films can also get lost amongst the crowd of a million videos that are uploaded online each day. The challenges of marketing and discovery remain. Marketing and distribution are the key pillars to content discovery and both are now being redefined as content of your preference is suggested on your screens by various influencers.

    Authority figures like ‘Critics Choice Short Film Awards’ (which celebrates best short form content in an unbiased way) help promote worthy films that may otherwise go unnoticed. They can assist in introducing new genres and gaining recognition in the digital space.

    In future the recommendation search engine will be redefined by using consumer psychographics to predict future choices based on those made in the present, without the restriction of a single platform.

    Going beyond the unrealistic assumption of a single genre preference towards mapping consumer’s complex choices they could track content preferences across multiple genres (Multi digital platforms (audio/video/text), print, television).Thereafter, creating sub-genres for curated consumption by looking at movies, Ted talks, books, magazines and more.

    Social media and its expanding reach towards content consumption

    Social media giants like Facebook continue to reign as network favourites across the globe. And now this expansive reach is moving towards High badge value shows i.e. those that attract more shares, by having content that is socially progressive. Touching an emotional nerve and focusing on affiliate communities, it is attracting a large viewer base. But as this shift occurs, the rules of the consumption game must change. Platforms must adapt to the varying attention span of consumers, as the first three seconds define the popularity of the videos. Visually impactful imagery is a mandate for all content as shooting goes beyond handheld devices towards High Definition. Every social media channel now holds an untapped viewership potential which must be shown to promote valuable content.

    Music transcends digital boundaries and makes it way to traditional means

    Television is no more concerned solely with traditional shows but is an equally attractive medium for digital first properties as they become rating drivers for channels. New initiatives are being undertaken to release content across different mediums by tapping into relatable pop culture. The success of ‘Jammin’ a music property (simulcast on TV, digital and radio) where YouTube stars meet top Bollywood composers, which opened to great numbers on Sony TV in addition to it’s success on and VIU and BigFMreinforces that appealing content can transcend boundaries.

    The growth of vernacular content

    The next 100 million Indian viewers that are going to be binging on digital content will be users alien to the English language and their consumption of content would be in regional languages, ushering an unprecendented demand for vernacular content as has been demonstrated by the OTTs. A scalable and sustainable example here is The Yaari franchise on Viu is broadcasted in multiple languages like Telugu, Kannada and Marathi and it continues to be an engaging show across multiple states and the diaspora abroad.

    Time to change the measure of digital content

    The OTTs and digital platforms are  split between free and doing originals (e.g. YT originals, Sony Liv), to freemiums (Hotstar, Viu, Zee5), to 100 per cent subscription platforms (Netflix,Amazon prime etc). Hence it’s essential to compare them on parity and not just on a single metric.

    Originals are defining the content approach in the Indian context and if the aim is to increase downloads and viewer engagement then the metric needs to change from downloads or MAU (monthly active users) to DAU (daily active users). The quality of the content and platform desirability cannot  be measured on the basis of a new monthly release, but it must be evaluated through the DAU/MAU metric to factor in returning users. This should be the true measure for content engagement as it will streamline comparisons between subscription OTTs vs free OTT vs freemiums.

    Rise of gaming as a marketing platform

    Costs of launching a car with AR/VR experience may be too high and unreasonable, but for gamers who already spend profusely on gaming zones and digital games, a small premium will not deter them from availing an enhanced gaming experience. Already a high engagement platform, gaming is eating into time spent by Indians on prime-time television as maximum gamers were found to play the most between 7 pm to midnight. The average daily time spent by Indians on mobile games has crossed the one-hour mark, which is more than the 45 minutes that they spend on streaming platforms.

    In 2018, over 380 million people are now watching other people playing games online making it a gaming revolution in the digital content space.

    Brand embracing and creating sustainable platforms

    As the race for eyeballs & viewer stickiness hots up, so does the pressue on creating new and appealing content leading to heavy investements for the platforms and networks. The old space of branded content has taken a new shape now with platforms and networks looking at this as content first. Annual brand funded or sponsorships have matured into prospective longer term partnerships like LUX Golden Rose Awards, Mc Dowell’s No.1 Yaari and  Yaari  JAM , Red Label 6-Pack Band 2.0.

    A strategic transformation has led to content becoming larger and (though marginally), joint initiatives becoming longer and content becoming synonymous with the brand. Brands are embracing platforms to leverage content strategically (long term and scalable year on year) and as broadcasters reward and demand for content, the number of these partnerships is sure to grow as it transforms into a sustainable model.

    (The author is head, content+, Mindshare. The views expressed here are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them)

  • Zee Studios International to release the most anticipated films of August and September!

    Zee Studios International to release the most anticipated films of August and September!

    MUMBAI: While the second half of 2018 has just begun, Zee Studios International, leading overseas film distributor, continues growing strong and has already announced its robust slate for August and September! Having distributed hits like Raazi, Veere Di Wedding, Parmanu and Dhadak, the latter of 2018 has opened new avenues for the distributor with their venture into Foreign Language Cinema, apart from taking prominent Bollywood films to markets outside India. 

    Zee Studios International has recently distributed Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Dhadak’ and has diversified its distribution and marketing with an exciting line-up for the next two months including Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Mulk’ starring Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu, Excel Entertainment’s Akshay Kumar starrer ‘GOLD’, Arjun Rampal’s ‘Paltan’, Fahad Mustafa & Mehwish Hayat’s ‘Load Wedding’, Marathi film ‘Pushpak Vimaan’ and ‘Anandi’, Philippine Cinema including films like ‘Buy Bust’, ‘The Day After Valentine’s’ and ‘Miss Granny’.

    Alongside these films, Zee Studios International is also distributing their first Tamil comedy thriller film ‘Coco’ (also referred to as Kolamaavu Kokila). Releasing in more than 20 countries with over 200 screens, Coco will be seen in over 70 screens in USA. 

    In the past, they have distributed films like Hindi Medium, Mom, Secret Superstar, Raees, Fukrey Returns, Parmanu, Raazi, Veere Di Wedding and the recent Dhadak across markets including U.K, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, UAE/GCC, and in unconventional markets like Russia, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Czech Malta, Hungary, Maldives Taiwan, Hong Kong and China to name a few. 

    Commenting on this development Vibha Chopra, Head – Zee Studios International (Film Marketing, Distribution, and Acquisition) said, “We at Zee Studios International are thrilled to distribute more and more films across territories, in variant languages as well as acquire worthwhile/rewarding content. We have been able to gradually shift from distributing Bollywood films to now distributing foreign films in markets outside India. Having the right team and constantly focussing our energies on content-driven films has allowed us to be able to attract as many markets while developing our traditional markets and audiences around the world”

    Having recently distributed their first ever foreign film Sid & Aya: Not A Love Story in Singapore last month, Vibha adds “We thank our partners who have helped us in distributing our films across the globe, allowing us to reach the viewers, localize our content, which in turn has helped us to customise our marketing for each territory.”