From sending paper flower bouquets to film critics to hosting the first-ever free public preview screening of a Hindi film in 11 cities across the country three days before the film's release, writer and director R. Balki's new film Chup: Revenge of the Artist starring Sunny Deol, Dulquer Salmaan, Shreya Dhanwanthary, and Pooja Bhatt has provided plenty to talk about, primarily the way the media directors have handled the film and used out of the box thinking to create a buzz around it.
It’s interesting to note that for the public Freeview, all screens across the 11 cities were house full in less than 10 minutes. It just goes to show just how much the public is anticipating this film. The second screening of the film was a joint film screening where film critics and industry personnel both watched the film together as a big family for the very first time and before the screening the makers also had a one-of-kind panel discussion between critics and directors. The panel saw Anees Bazmi, Raj & DK and Alankrita Shrivastava join in and share their views and experiences.
The film saw the highest number of advance bookings of any film that was released in 2022 at a staggering 125,000 bookings and it even had good first-day collections at 2.5 crores.
Balki along with producers Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Anil Naidu, Dr. Jayantilal Gada (of PEN Studios), and Gauri Shinde has pushed the envelope not only with the subject of the film which talks about how artists deal with criticism but has also established a unique communication line with the audience.
Raindrop Media is the media director of the film and is responsible for the media strategy. They are known for big-ticket blockbusters like Main Hoon Na, once upon a time in Mumbai, Dirty Picture, Dabangg, Ram Leela, Bajirao Mastani, Padmavat, Rowdy Rathore, Aashiqui 2, Raanjhana, Tanu weds Manu Returns, Badhaai Ho and most recently, Ek Villain Returns to its credit. The company has also been the driving force behind many content-driven sleeper hits like LSD, Ragini MMS, Vicky Donor, Piku, Kahaani, NH 10, Newton over the years along with Rocketry: The Nambi effect which was released earlier this year.
