MUMBAI: "Shah Rukh Khan once told Abhishek – ‘I am very good at marketing, if you ever need any help on that, let me know’," recalls megastar Amitabh Bachchan. Both baffled and amused about the current trend in Bollywood to aggressively promote one’s movie, Amitabh Bachchan says is not capable of doing it.
"Gosh I fail to even imagine the various ‘technologies’ that are put into use for attention to be drawn towards a particular film. Any and every medium that has the patronage or attention of the masses, is exploited for the benefit of a film on release. Spend tons of money, almost the entire budget of the film at times, to get in the audience for that crucial first week and rest. During the time I was hosting ‘Big Boss’, Akshay had come along to be a part of the programme to promote one of his films. After finishing his stint he needed to rush back to Mumbai to attend another programme on TV for the same promotion. I asked him why he was rushing around like this. He said, almost apologetically what to do ‘sir ji, one has to do this!’," shared the 69 year old.
However, though the veteran actor has to succumb to the strategies unwillingly due to the demands of the times, he finds himself not in favour it. "I am not a salesman and to expect this talent from me would be wishful thinking. But the region and area of work that we function in, has made it mandatory for all of us to succumb unwillingly into the depths of its operations. I asked Rajinikanth once what he thought of all this. He gave me a simple answer. ‘I am an actor Amit ji, not a salesman. What is the need to go and sell myself. If a film is good it will be patronised, if not it shall not. No amount of selling shall drive a paying audience into the theatre, if basic factors are not in place.’ End of argument!."
