Last week on Thursday, August 11, we finally saw the release of the much talked about, immensely promoted, and keenly anticipated Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha. Directed by Advait Chandan and written by Atul Kulkarni the film, which featured Kareena Kapoor Khan, was touted as the biggest release of the year so far. In fact, industry experts predicted a bumper opening for the film despite facing competition. However, contrary to expectations, Laal Singh Chaddha took off to a lackluster start. With under-appreciative reviews and general unacceptance by the audience, the business of Laal Singh Chaddha floundered. With the film severely underperforming at the box office, the industry is abuzz with talks about the simmering rift between Viacom 18 Studios and Aamir Khan Productions. Sources have also pointed out that the blame game between Aamir Khan and Viacom 18 Studios, about who was responsible for this lackadaisical performance has also begun.
SCOOP: After Laal Singh Chaddha’s DISASTROUS performance, the simmering rift between Viacom 18 Studios and Aamir Khan Productions comes to the fore; the internal blame game begins
In fact, well-placed industry sources say that Viacom 18 Studios bankrolled the Rs. 180 cr. film and played an instrumental role in acquiring the remake rights of the Tom Hanks starrer Forrest Gump, are pretty miffed with the Perfectionist, Aamir Khan. As per the buzz, Viacom 18 Studios have placed the blame solely on the actor and his coterie for the erroneous marketing leading to the film’s disastrous performance at the box office.
“It is obvious that Viacom 18 Studios is miffed with Aamir Khan,” says a source in the know, reasoning that it was due to Aamir taking over the entire marketing and promotional campaign of Laal Singh Chaddha, which was the root cause. “Laal Singh Chaddha was to be developed in partnership between Viacom 18 Studios and Aamir Khan Productions (AKP). However, once the film came to the marketing and promotions stage, all decisions pertaining to the film were taken by Aamir and his marketing team, which is how Aamir Khan usually works. So much so that Viacom 18 Studios, including their marketing and management team, were not even aware of what was happening on the promotions front.” If that was not enough, the source continues, “Viacom 18 Studios had quite literally no say in the promotions of Laal Singh Chaddha forget the creativity and the production part. For instance, Aamir decided to feature in the latest season of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the details of which were given to Viacom 18 at the last moment. Even his appearance on Koffee With Karan season 7, was planned and executed by Aamir, and his team. Viacom 18 Studios were left as mute spectators to their Rs. 180 cr. investment”.
With both partners Viacom 18 Studios and Aamir Khan Productions wanting different approaches to positioning for the PR to marketing and point of view for promotions, the film suffered the most. “Usually the head office, in this case, the international division takes a call on the final aspects of promotions, PR, marketing, positioning, and strategy. In fact, global studios have very strict mandates for films, which were totally ignored and side-lined by Aamir Khan and his team. For instance, the final call on all promotional material was also taken by Aamir Khan himself, right from what to feature on posters to OOH banners, to online, and TV promotions including their size and dimensions. Aamir went so far as to even take a call on paid partnership deals that were done by Viacom 18, in terms of positioning of logos and their presence on promotional materials. This resulted in the production house garnering immense dissension from the partners who had invested their monies in promotions. At the end of the day, this move tainted their reputation as a film studio. The India office of Viacom 18 Studios also received a dressing down from their international arm for not having a firm grip on their product. A week to 10 days before the release, both Viacom 18 Studios and Aamir Khan Productions started promoting the movie individually basis what they felt best” claims the source.
Interestingly, on the other hand, Aamir Khan and his team felt Viacom 18’s half-hearted support of their decisions and constantly breathing down their necks, and insistence on doing things their way turned the campaign into a haphazard mess. “Had they relented, things would have been much different. Wait for a few more days for more skeletons to tumble out of the closet from both sides”, the source concludes.
Nevertheless, whatever the case, Laal Singh Chaddha inadvertently became a casualty!
Also Read: Talks resume between Aamir Khan and Netflix over Laal Singh Chaddha OTT deal; handshake done at a lower price point of approx. Rs. 90 cr.
More Pages: Laal Singh Chaddha Box Office Collection , Laal Singh Chaddha Movie Review
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