Mem Famous hogs the limelight for its innovative publicity strategy, will the Writer Padmabhushan magic repeat?

Two of the biggest hits this year -Writer Padmabhushan and Balagam - weren’t successful solely because of the content but also due to the innovative strategies that its makers adopted to bring crowds to theatres. The most impressive aspect of both the films - the team was equally conscious of pre and post-release publicity and the timely decisions gave a push to their box office prospects.

If Writer Padmabhushan, directed by a debutant Shanmukha Prashanth, didn’t have many recognisable faces beyond Suhas, Rohini and Ashish Vidyarthi, the makers (Chai Bisket Films and Lahiri Films) have taken a bigger risk with their next release Mem Famous. The writer, director and the lead actor of the May 26 release is a 23-year-old YouTuber Sumanth Prabhas.

Unlike their earlier film, the production houses don’t have any familiar actors in their supporting cast either. Earlier this week, producers Anurag Reddy, Sharath Chandra and Chandru Manoharan announced that Mem Famous will introduce over 30 new actors. The story is about a bunch of three friends in rural Telangana who employ every trick in the book to get famous in their village.

As part of the promotional strategy, Mem Famous actors have teamed up with top names in the business - directors Anil Ravipudi, Harish Shankar, actors Vijay Deverakonda, Navdeep, producer Allu Aravind - to spread the word about the film with a dose of self-effacing humour. They’ve come up with unique, partly silly one-liners for their promo videos, but the young team is doing them with so much conviction that it has struck a chord with their target audiences.

While the younger lot is clearly impressed by the promo videos, songs and the teaser, the icing on the cake is the appreciation from the industry. Directors Rahul Ravindran and Anand Ranga have complemented the team’s efforts to make the right noises about the film. Geetha Arts, the distributors in Telugu States, is ensuring a wide release to Mem Famous on May 26. Naresh, Pavitra Lokesh’s drama Malli Pelli too hits screens the same day.