Writer Padmabhushan, a textbook example on handling post-release promotions

The box office prospects of most small/medium budget films are significantly driven by good word-of-mouth talk and there are no two ways about it. However, makers seldom show the enthusiasm to give a good push to such films post its theatrical release even after garnering good reviews. They either don’t have the budget for it, use social media for the same and if things don’t go as per plan, shift the blame onto audiences for not encouraging them.

However, Chai Basket, that has backed debutant Shanmukha Prashanth’s Writer Padmabhushan recently, have proved otherwise. Their out of the box strategies drove audiences to theatres in the initial weekend of release and hence, the film was off to a decent start at the ticket window. Yet, the producers realised their job was only half done till the film’s release and are leaving no stone unturned to boost its commercial revenues in the weekdays too.

Several biggies are lining up for release on February 10 and 17 and it was always necessary for Writer Padmabhushan to perform well on the weekdays to sustain its momentum. After the reduced ticket prices in the US, increasing the locations as per viewer demands, the team has come up with an idea to screen the film for free for women across select theatres in Telugu states today. Given, it’s a family entertainer, the initiative is expected to yield good results.

Hosting a template success meet has been the only strategy for producers post a theatrical release and it’s important for them to take a leaf out of Writer Padmabhushan to drive crowds to theatres. The makers adopted a similar strategy for Adivi Sesh’s Major last year as well and the results are for everyone to see. Suhas, Tina Shilparaj, Rohini Molleti, Ashish Vidyarthi essay pivotal roles in the film produced by Chai Bisket Films and Lahari Films.