Comedian-actor Karthik Kumar recently remarked in a video that all big commercial movie trailers have began to feel the same. “Hero-centric, with some retro music and punch dialogues from their own earlier movies,” he said. When Venkat Prabhu, who is currently directing Vijay in GOAT, reshared the video, many assumed he was taking a dig at the title teaser of Rajinikanth’s Coolie.Soon, he clarified that the statement was true for all commercial flicks. He also questioned if fans would accept something different from the regular template. We spoke to a few industry experts to share their thoughts on the subject.
Will fans accept something different?
Filmmaker CS Amudhan feels that the audience isn’t so fixed in their ways that they will not accept anything else. “Their taste is built by the films they see. Nobody would have thought of a hero similar to the one Karthi played in Paruthiveer an, because that’s not your idea of a hero. But a gifted filmmaker can make it work,” he says. While he admits commercial films are market-driven, he adds, “We can be a bit bolder, especially with big-star films.” Meanwhile, editor Lawrence Kishore shares, “As a technician, I’m ready to change it, but audiences should also be ready to accept it. Production houses and distributors should also accept it.”
Filmmakers are of the opinion that the reason for trailers looking similar is because the films themselves are similar. Editor Selva RK shares, “We can only present what’s in a film — clips and dialogues — in its trailer. As films are repetitive, the trailers are also repetitive. Therefore, taking risks is very important, which is why I try my best to avoid repetition in the trailers that I cut.”
Amudhan agrees, “Trailers can’t be very different from the movies. The problem is that we are making very similar kinds of movies. If something is trending, then we tend to follow it. We had a big line-up of horror comedies a few years back. Currently, people are a bit obsessed with action.”
Director Vignesh Karthick believes that fans will accept newer attempts, too. “For example, Vijay sir’s Nanban was a very different film from the ones he normally does, but fans got excited because they were seeing a different Vijay. Similarly, his fans are now excited because he will be seen in a young look in Venkat Prabhu sir’s The Greatest of All Time.”
‘THE MASS TRAILER TEMPLATE KEEPS EVOLVING’
Lawrence Kishore says that the mass trailer template will keep evolving. “Earlier, trailers used to be three-and-a-half minutes long and featured three songs from the film. Now, there are no songs in the trailers. The present template for mass trailers will change in the future, maybe after a decade,” he says.
Selva RK says, “During the 2000s, very few people came to the theatres to watch a movie based on its trailer. But now, the audience has become more selective and many even decide whether to watch a film or not depending on a trailer.”
TS Suresh believes that the patience of today’s audience is limited. He shares, “If we take a look at trailers from the early 2000s until 2010, ach shot will try to communicate something to the audience. Nowadays, people don’t care about the fundamentals and just want a blockbuster trailer that breaks views. He adds, “In the last 10 years, as social media has evolved, there’s been pressure to deliver a trailer with a high number of views. This is why most of the commercial film trailers these days have fast cuts.”
Will fans accept something different?
Filmmaker CS Amudhan feels that the audience isn’t so fixed in their ways that they will not accept anything else. “Their taste is built by the films they see. Nobody would have thought of a hero similar to the one Karthi played in Paruthiveer an, because that’s not your idea of a hero. But a gifted filmmaker can make it work,” he says. While he admits commercial films are market-driven, he adds, “We can be a bit bolder, especially with big-star films.” Meanwhile, editor Lawrence Kishore shares, “As a technician, I’m ready to change it, but audiences should also be ready to accept it. Production houses and distributors should also accept it.”
Filmmakers are of the opinion that the reason for trailers looking similar is because the films themselves are similar. Editor Selva RK shares, “We can only present what’s in a film — clips and dialogues — in its trailer. As films are repetitive, the trailers are also repetitive. Therefore, taking risks is very important, which is why I try my best to avoid repetition in the trailers that I cut.”
Amudhan agrees, “Trailers can’t be very different from the movies. The problem is that we are making very similar kinds of movies. If something is trending, then we tend to follow it. We had a big line-up of horror comedies a few years back. Currently, people are a bit obsessed with action.”
Director Vignesh Karthick believes that fans will accept newer attempts, too. “For example, Vijay sir’s Nanban was a very different film from the ones he normally does, but fans got excited because they were seeing a different Vijay. Similarly, his fans are now excited because he will be seen in a young look in Venkat Prabhu sir’s The Greatest of All Time.”
‘THE MASS TRAILER TEMPLATE KEEPS EVOLVING’
Lawrence Kishore says that the mass trailer template will keep evolving. “Earlier, trailers used to be three-and-a-half minutes long and featured three songs from the film. Now, there are no songs in the trailers. The present template for mass trailers will change in the future, maybe after a decade,” he says.
Selva RK says, “During the 2000s, very few people came to the theatres to watch a movie based on its trailer. But now, the audience has become more selective and many even decide whether to watch a film or not depending on a trailer.”
TS Suresh believes that the patience of today’s audience is limited. He shares, “If we take a look at trailers from the early 2000s until 2010, ach shot will try to communicate something to the audience. Nowadays, people don’t care about the fundamentals and just want a blockbuster trailer that breaks views. He adds, “In the last 10 years, as social media has evolved, there’s been pressure to deliver a trailer with a high number of views. This is why most of the commercial film trailers these days have fast cuts.”
