Travolta’s revolt!

Here’s another one to have just lost it with media. John Travolta is the latest one to feel the media is apparently stepping on his toes. The Face Off actor defended fellow actor and believer of Scientology, Tom Cruise, who was criticized for his comments in a talk show. Refusing to accept that being a celebrity denied one of his rights and privacy, John seconded Tom’s right to speak his mind, and did he speak his mind too! John has kept his bathroom and bedroom right off limits for the paparazzi! Now, how deprived are we going to be?!

Abhi is daddy’s boy!
The ideal son, that’s what Abhishek Bachchan is bent on proving! He totally adores his dad and almost always has a wistfully twinkling glint in his eyes every time he speaks of dad. Attributing perfection to Big B, he generously rates him a 100 on 100 for his overall personality! Extolling his father’s performances, some of which were scheduled to be screened at the renowned BAFTA awards, he’s hoping with all his heart to someday grow up to be like his dad. Wonder what happened to Jaya mama’s boy?

Believe it? Or not?
Looks like folks out in the West just can’t get enough of the blue eyed beauty. After Provoked and The Last Legion, Aishwarya Rai has been reportedly chosen for a popular television science fiction series in the United States. Titled Heroes, it’ll have Ash play the role of a character named ‘Shanti’, who possesses supernatural powers. Her contract is believed to last eight entire episodes, but the busy actress’ business manager kept up with denying any such plans, dismissing all of it as gossip. Oh well, only time will tell…

Sporty is a good sport!
Melanie Chisholm popularly known as Mel C or ‘Sporty Spice’ of the British girl group of yesteryears, Spice Girls, has finally agreed to the reunion. Still wanting to keep intact the magic they created, Mel C earlier initially opposed the idea, but now she’s prepared herself for it. After the group witnessed weak sales and split, leaving each to pursue respective solo careers, Mel now feels that the group owed the world a last ‘thank you’ and ‘good bye’ and this ‘get-together’ was the ideal way to show that gratitude. Whatever your reasons Mel, we couldn’t be happier!

Bips has had enough
Bipasha Basu has had a lot on her mind since the past few days. She’s waiting for boyfriend John Abraham to return from his shoot in Hyderabad to settle matters once and for all. Rumours have it that their relationship has been sailing stormy waters lately, and the gossip mills working overtime weren’t helping. Meanwhile, media is happy to play matchmaker for Bips, linking her to a whole lot of potential suitors, right from Saif to Dino Morea. But for love’s sake, let’s hope this love story meets a happy ending...

No son for Aniston!
It seems that Jennifer Aniston’s not ready to tie on an apron and get her manicured nails dirty in baby poo yet. Everyone was taken by surprise when OK! Magazine proclaimed that Jen was all set to adopt in the wake of Sheryl Crow’s union with her adopted son Wyatt. In fact, they even stated that the adoption process for a boy was ‘100 percent’ on track. However, sources close to the Hollywood star claims the statements aren’t true at all. Somebody’s loss, somebody’s gain, we believe...

Pamela – Forty and flirty!
Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson may be pushing forty and but she still knows how to party! PETA held an advance bash to celebrate her fortieth birthday which is to be on July 1 at a Florida hotspot. And boy, did she party?! To top it all, she stunned them all in her breathtaking red satin off -shoulder drape proving that 40 is the new 20! However, after making the shutterbugs happy with the ritual cake-cutting photo-ops, she went back to work on her upcoming film. Pam’s sure got her priorities in order this year!

Of Marketing, Relationships and Relationship Marketing!

Bollywood embraces the 4th P, as films transcend conventional space…

Star power is no longer confined to the realm of the cinema reel. Bollywood’s increasingly aggressive efforts to market its offerings with media blitzkriegs and nifty merchandising, is fast turning these tactics into auxiliary elements of the movie marketing mix.

In the new millennium, it began with the Hrithik-Esha starrer Na Tum Jaano Na Hum and the eminently huggable tote stuffed toy ‘Tutu’, and while the film washed out before you could say ‘Tutu!’, Tutu did not; more than 80,000 units were lapped up by moony-eyed teenagers! Good-spirited affection rose to the fore again, with bands of friendship cementing bonds of love with the Yash Raj production Mujhse Dosti Karoge; whose fresh division Yash Raj Films Merchandise is solely meant to focus on this aspect. From Hum Tum cartoon strips in newspapers preceding the film’s release, as also in popular TV soap Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, to bags and caps, their strategy proved as humungous a hit as the film itself! Salaam Namaste promoted the trendy coffee mugs from which Preity and Saif slugged, and later slugged it out, in the film. And as this year’s most anticipated flick hits theatres, pre-launch for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, or KANK as the watchword has spread, has invaded news channels to youth music channels, to key-chains, pens and mugs, as the producers left no stone unturned in doing as much as they KANK!

Savoury or not, could leveraging relationships to arouse interest lie far behind in the marketing match? Neither novel nor outmoded, clubbing couples speared by Cupid’s arrow in real life on screen has met with success and failure in equal measure. While real-life twosomes like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder in Hollywood, and closer home Raj Kapoor and Nargis, Amitabh and Rekha, John and Bipasha have figured in box office wonders, there have been disasters aplenty too – J. Lo and Ben Affleck (Gigli), Aishwarya Rai and Viveik Oberoi (Kyon! Ho Gaya Na), and to an extent Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur (Fida, Chup Chup Ke) – to name a few.

It’s not amour alone though, that can captivate crowds. Take for instance the grapevine hinting of the subtle rivalry between Big B and King Khan. Throw in rumours of disagreements in footage time given to Junior B in KANK, and the launch of its music once for vacationing SRK in London and later for Bachchan at the IIFA weekend in Dubai, these folks sure catered to our appetite for juicy gossips!

So there lie the three golden caveats… one, any publicity is good publicity, two, as far as relationships go, it’s the prospect of thrill rather than the actual story, and finally the universal truth – relationships and marketing may forge the emotional connect but sensible content’s the definitive ingredient for business at the box office!

PUT YOUR COLA IN THE FREEZER

Colas are being left in the cold... literally. In the latest round of the Cola controversy, the government of Kerala has banned the production and sale of soft drinks marketed by Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the State. The state of Karnataka too has decided to ban the sale of 11 brands of soft drinks (including Pepsi and Coca-Cola), in educational institutions and hospitals from August 14. Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have already banned the sale of Pepsi and Coca Cola in educational institutions and government offices. This comes days after the Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) claim that aerated drinks contain higher levels of pesticide residues than ever before. The Kerala government’s decision came in the wake of a recommendation made by the ruling Left Democratic Front’s state committee, and now the fate of the Coca- Cola plant at Plachimada and the Pepsi unit at Puthussery hangs by a slender thread. Meanwhile, Karnataka has announced that the sale of Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Blue, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Thums Up, and 7UP will be banned within 100 metres of all schools, colleges and hospitals across the state. The state has also sought the Centre’s opinion on slapping a total ban on the sale of soft drinks. However, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has said that banning colas indiscriminately like this is likely to hurt India’s credibility and investment climate.