There’s an interesting film that’s going around the film industry. It focuses on the Land Acquisition Bill — yes, Singur is mentioned too — which displaces farmers and peasants who’re bought off for peanuts, leaving them with neither property nor adequate compensation. Titled Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande (SDGB), it has been written, produced and directed by actress Preeti Jhangiani’s husband Parvin Dabas. Preeti was seen in films like Yashraj Films’ Mohabbatein while Parvin has acted in Monsoon Wedding and a few others.

SDGB has a novel storyline, a bit of male bonding and testosterone moments which ultimately force you to think of the pernicious bill. It is a fine film with one glaring drawback: will you go to see a low-cost film that stars Parvin Dabas in the male lead with no known names embellishing the credits? I hope the answer to that is a resounding “yes”.

But that is the trouble most films with a heart face today. The message is important, the story idea is refreshingly original, but the packaging and marketing need to be big scale to really bring the audience in.

This was brought to the fore at a recent party where a film that has won several awards (including a National Award) was felicitated. The real life story of Sindhutai (discarded and maligned by her husband, she gave birth to her daughter in a cowshed and cut the umbilical cord herself), Mee Sindhutai Sakpal was directed by Ananth Mahadevan who earlier made Hindi films like Dil Vil Pyaar Vyar and Red Alert. After Mee Sindhutai got acclaim from everywhere (but no tangible profits), Ananth disclosed that his producer had once told him wistfully, “I wish this film had been produced by Aamir Khan. He would have taken a film like this to the heights it deserved.”

Ananth’s reply to his producer, on a public platform: “You are greater than Aamir Khan for me because you backed me, a South Indian, to make Mee Sindhutai, a film in Marathi, when no one else was willing to risk it. That makes you a very great man for me.”

What the dialogue points to is that Aamir Khan’s marketing skills are really the benchmark today. If he could take a non-star cast rural film like Peepli Live and turn it into a commercially viable project, it only means that the issue may be great but the star power has to be even greater to reach it to the audience. Which is why Salman Khan went out all to promote Chillar Party. Unfortunately, with a trashy, pedestrian title like that and the stamp of being only a children’s film, even Salman and a tax-free tag in Maharashtra couldn’t pull it off. It required a more skilled marketing man like Aamir to give Chillar Party the kind of promotion it merited.

One hears that Amitabh Bachchan’s Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap also erred in not promoting the film absolutely honestly. For instance, Raveena Tandon’s item number Chandigarh di star was publicised as her return to sizzling dances when actually it was only for promotional reasons and was never a part of the film. So those who waited for the dance in the film came away puzzled. The item number will now figure in the DVDs.

Unfortunately, the Hindi film industry, which wears blinkers most of the time, now thinks that promotion simply means grabbing attention from every available platform. Only an Aamir recognises that it has to say absolutely the right honest thing about the film because any cheating at the promotion stage will result in a disappointed audience.

By the way, August 2 came and went without Aamir landing in Calcutta. A last-minute snag in Shatrughan Sinha’s Ke Bani Crorepati forced the Aamir episode to be cancelled. The Khan’s might would have been the ideal way to wind up this season but now the show has to be quickly wound up without a celebrity. All regional versions of the show, Saurav Ganguly’s included, have to be telecast and out of the way before the big one — Amitabh Bachchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati begins its next season on Independence Day. As long as the main Hindi show is on air, no regional versions will be beamed from anywhere.

Before saying “bye”, here’s something to chew on: now single and eligible, a renowned Hindi film actress with a Bengali connection has had a small surgical disaster. The silicone job (you know where) she sported for several years went sagging a short while ago. She needed to go back to the surgeon to set it right before facing the cameras again!

Bharathi S. Pradhan is editor, The Film Street Journal