Trailers are the best tools to pique the interest of the audience and interest them into watching the movie. In India, Bollywood trailers have a special place of their own in the movie industry. Well before the movie hits the cinema halls, trailers start making their appearance in between prime time TV shows, at theatres where other movies are playing, and nowadays, on the internet too. In fact, almost all big production houses have a dedicated website to big movie projects where trailers, songs, clips and trivia about the movie are uploaded.
The primary objective of a trailer is to make the audience curious. A well thought out selection of scenes, songs and situations needs to be presented in the trailer to interest the viewer. Since songs and music are a very important part of any Indian movie, all Bollywood trailers also have a healthy helping of these. In fact, in many cases, Bollywood movies set off frenzy among fans well before the movie is even released because a song or scene has caught the imagination of millions across the country.
Bollywood trailers are also used by producers to offer audiences a quick first look at the highlights of the movie. A trailer tells the viewer about the various elements he will find when he watches the full movie such as action, comedy or pathos. Some trailers give the viewer the gist of the basic storyline so that he is drawn to watching the movie to see how the situation unfolds.
The audience also gets a look at the cinematography and style of the movie by looking at trailers. Exotic foreign locales, classy photography and masterful shots can all be amply displayed through the snapshots that trailers allow the producer to reveal. The look and feel of the movie can be conveyed very effectively using these film ‘nuggets’.
Movies that have a specific message at the end may have a trailer expounding the same message too. This sets the stage for the producer/ director to communicate more easily and more effectively with the audience since they view the entire movie with the message in the back of their minds. For films that center around social issues, this technique works very well indeed.
Whether it is a serious social subject or a typical Hindi block buster action movie, Bollywood trailers are an indispensable part of the Indian movie industry.
Producers and directors who know their audiences also know that skimping on the trailer could dampen enthusiasm for an upcoming movie and subdue box office collections significantly. This is why trailers are being made with greater care and even more diligence today than ever before.
