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FILM INDIA
April 1940
Shanta Kumari fn "Dharma Patni" a Famous film in Telugu.
ents in nation-building. Politicians, administrators, statesmen. educationists, scientists and scholars vied with one other in honouring him and in seeking the pleasure of his company."
Knowing him to be a modest man as I do, I am sure Mr. Modi will himself blush when reading this effusive record of his tour. In any case. I would have had every reason to feel elated at this spontaneous reception accorded to a film producer and director. But it is alleged by some Hyderabad papers that the whole affair was arranged by Mr. Rustom Modi, brother of Mr. Sohrab Modi, who is an exhibitor in Hyderabad, and not the so-called "Committee of Hosts" but the management of the Nishat Talkies footed the bill for parties and receotions. I only hope it is not true.
No, Sir, I still believe that the village drummer is more honest in his publicity methods than some of our professional boosters. And I am afraid they are not even so effective. The drummer at least does manage to collect a crowd to hear his oral advertisement. But the badly displayed full-page advertisement of ail unimaginative film publicist is often passed over without a second ulance by newspaper readers. But cm this subject Mr. Patel is more competent to speak. Come on, Baburao — .
THE SLEDGE HAMMER IN ACTION
O. K. Kid! I know what you want. You are fishing for trouble and you want me to share it. Well, here it goes!
With the exception of a few persons, I think that all the publicity managers we find in our studios are just rank fools. Half o1\ them are disappointed journalists,
the other half of the remaining half had once distinguished themselves as producers' personal "secretaries"'. The rest are nephews and cousins clinging to the fortunes of the producers for a living. None of them know what publicity actually is.
Imagine an uneducated man, not knowing the primary rudiments of psychology, trying to sell pictures to the people. I know publicity managers who unblushingly copy advertisements from the campaign books of foreign producers. I know others who think that a lot of rubbish wedged in a geometrical design of bold and black lines is a good selling copy. None of them indulge in any honesty of intention and even if they desired few are given a chance to do so. Time beats them.
THE PRODUCER TO BLAME
A producer who takes ten months to produce a picture and spends over a lakh of rupees in doing so. suddenly decides to screen the picture in a day. Very often the picture is censored on the day of the screening and that very day every one in the studio including the publicity man comes to know what the story is about. All this time, for a
'Begin it with a cigarette" says Baburao Pendharkar in "Ardhangi." But Leela Chitnis knows him too well.
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