Marketing campaign of “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”

• “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” is a 2013 Indian biographical sports drama film based on the life of Milkha Singh.

• Milkha Singh and his daughter, Sonia Sanwalka, co-wrote his autobiography, titled “The Race of My Life”.

• Mr. Singh sold the film rights for one rupee but inserted a clause stating that a share of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust.

• They inserted a clause stating that a share of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust.

INTRODUCTION

PRODUCTION•Film produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra from a script written by Prasoon Joshi in association with Vaicom 18 motion pictures.

•According to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was rejected by innumerable distributors.•It was then that Viacom 18 motion pictures (Studio) extended its support to be a part of this Venture.

STARCAST

• The film stars are Farhan Akhtar,

• Sonam Kapoor,

• Meesha Shafi,

• Divya Dutta,

• Pavan Malhotra,

• Yograj Singh and

• Prakash Raj.

Marketing Strategy

• Marketing Head of Viacom, Rudrarup Dutta told about the reasons behind signing up this project, said Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, has the potential to be a game changer.

• While the biggest challenge for the marketing team was to revive a legend who hasn't faced.

• the media for over a decade, Prabhat Choudhary of Spice PR thought it was the easiest one.

• Bhaag had to follow over this span where they released the first teaser in November 2012, which started building it in people's psyche since then.

• There was high pitched media campaign and co- branded partnership which accentuated the promotion, team constantly kept making news to keep it alive in the audience's mind.

• Right from the time that they bought Milkhaji's shoes in an auction to constant visibility during the shoot of the film.

• BMB was victim of controversy after rumors were rife about  release of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag being banned in Pakistan,

• Along with intimate scenes Farhan Akhtar shared with actress Rebecca Breeds,actors as well as the director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra did clear the air about these Controversies.

RELEASE • Bhaag Milkha Bhaag released on 12 July 2013 in 1200 screens worldwide

including 140 screens in USA.

• Maharashtra government and Madhya Pradesh government granted an entertainment tax exemption to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag on 20 July 2013. 

• On 24 July 2013, the Delhi government also announced tax exemption for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.On 25 July 2013,Go government gave tax-free status to the film for three months.

•  On 29 July 2013, Haryana government also made the film tax-free in the state.

• On 1 August 2013, Uttar Pradesh government approved a proposal to exempt Bhaag Milkha Bhaag from entertainment tax in two installments or for a maximum period of two months.

• Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "a stirring bio of Milkha Singh", while Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times said that, "the movie strikes its chosen couple of notes resoundingly, making clear what makes Singh run.“

 

• Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is easily one of the best mainstream films to come out of Bollywood this year.Scott Foundas of Variety described the film as "rousing and handsomely crafted biopic".

•  Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter opined that the biopic "requires viewer endurance, but pays off with an exhilarating climax.“ Digital Spy praised the film and said,

• It is a blessing that this film was made and the inspiring story of India's greatest sporting hero told to a generation who might otherwise never have known the legend of 'The Flying Sikh’

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

Box office

• Bhaag Milkha Bhaag grossed 1.64 billion (US$26 million) worldwide and is the fifth highest-grossing 2013 Bollywood film.

• INDIA:  It earned approximately 85 million (US$1.3 million) on its first

day. The film showed a 21-percent growth and earned 105 million (US$1.6 million) on the second day of its box office run.

The film added INR15 million (US$240,000) nett approx in its third week to take its nett gross to INR964 million (US$15 million).

The film grossed INR1.02 billion (US$16 million) nett in 24 days as it added around INR50 million (US$790,000) nett in its fourth weekend.

OVERSEAS

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag grossed around $1.4 million over its first weekend. The film grossed US$647,112 in its first week of release in the United States, and debuted at the 15th spot at the box office.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has done well in Overseas with collections of around $2.7 million.

The film has done well in US. The film has done overseas

business of over US$3.5 million and has been declared Hit.

The final overseas business is around US$3.8 million.

TERRITORIES CIRCUIT COMPRISING TERRITORIES

Andhra circuit Parts of Andhra Pradesh

Bombay circuit Mumbai, Gujarat, Goa, parts of Maharashtra & Karnataka

C. P. Berar circuit Maharashtra(Eastern), Madhya Pradesh (south & west), Chhattisgarh

Central India circuit Parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Delhi circuit Delhi, Uttar Pradesh & Uttaranchal

East Punjab circuit Punjab, Harayana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir

Eastern circuit West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam & North-Eastern states, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nepal

TERRITORIES

CIRCUIT COMPRISING TERRITORIES

Mysore circuit Bengaluru and parts of Karnataka

Nizam circuit Hyderabad, parts of Maharashtra, parts of Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka.

Rajasthan circuit Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu circuit Tamil Nadu & Kerala

BRAND ASSOCIATION

Why BRAND ASSOCIATION ??

• Milkha leapt over personal obstacles, hence the Birla Sun Life Insurance connection.

• He drank a lot of milk to stay fit, so tick against a tie-up with dairy giant Amul.

• He is an Indian sporting icon, so another tick against Air India, the national carrier and the only airline around when Milkha set foot on a plane for the first time to represent the country in the international arena.

• Milkha ran with Adidas shoes, so there’s another ready-made association.

• Cosmetics company Garnier Men India found a fit with Farhan Akhtar, the dishy actor and film-maker who plays Milkha.

PROMOTION

Marketing budget

PR PLAN

• Ignitee Digital create buzz about the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag on the digital & social media platforms with a clear focus on spreading info about the great athlete Milkha Singh.

• Most of the posts were image driven with a motivational quote to bring out the essence of the film. “Reaching to the top, in spite of all the hurdles in life”. This content plan was continued till May 2013.

• Making today’s generation aware of Milkha’s achievements.

• Dedicated posts and activities were carried out at regular interval during the campaign to put emphasis on the real HERO!

Buzz before the release Of “Bhag Milkha Bhag”

• Farhan trained for five to six hours daily. The training sessions included lessons in cycling, repetitions, swimming, football, stair running, etc.

• Farhan totally avoided all kinds of junk food while shooting for the movie. A six course meal program for the day helped the actor gain adequate strength and muscles to look and act like the Flying Sikh.

• The movie is directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra. The director took the services of Samir Jaura for sculpting Farhan Akhtar’s body.

• The inspiration was the look of Brad Pitt in Fight Club.

• All these news were Air before the relase of movie.

CONCLUSION

• BMB was a Hit movie, superb screen play & Direction.

• Songs played important role,boost up the Audience.

• Interestingly, several states across India have declared Bhaag Milkha Bhaag tax free.The film is running tax-free in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana and Goa.

• 59th Filmfare Awards, National Film Awards and many more such prestigious awards which made BMB an outstanding Sucsses.