Mumbai12 minutes agoAuthor: Virendra Mishra/Abhinav Tripathi
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In this episode of Reel to Real, we will talk about the making process of ad films.
You see the advertisement of Pan Masala on TV, it takes a budget of more than 50 crores to make it. This is because it features very big stars. Big names like Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgan, Akshay Kumar and international star Pierce Brosnan have appeared in the advertisement of Pan Masala.
An ad film is usually between 10 to 30 seconds long, but it takes months to make it. What will be the theme of the ad? What will be the punchline? This is decided by the director making the ad film.
In the new episode of Reel to Real, we will talk about the making process of ad films. For this, we spoke to famous ad film maker Prabhakar Shukla.
25 lakh to 50 crore rupees are spent in making an ad film Prabhakar said that usually it costs 25-30 lakh rupees to make a good ad film. Ad films which have big stars and VFX-special effects are used a lot, their budget is in crores. For example, a pan masala ad has a big star cast. Its budget can be 50 crores or even more, because it also includes the fees of the star cast.
Prabhakar said that more than 50 crore rupees were spent in making the paan masala ad featuring Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar. A good film can be made in this amount.
A pan masala company had cast Shahrukh, Ajay Devgan and Akshay Kumar in the same ad video.
The government does not allow ads for pan masala or alcohol Does the government give permission to make ad films on paan masala or alcohol? Prabhakar said, 'No, there is no permission from the government. In such a situation, these companies advertise paan masala as cardamom and alcohol as soda water. This is called surrogate advertising.'
Stars avoid doing such advertisements citing their image Earlier actors used to easily promote alcohol and pan masala. Later they had to face a lot of criticism, due to which now most of the stars avoid it. Even after getting good fees, actors refuse to work in it citing their image.
Akshay Kumar had to issue a formal statement and apologize. Akshay had said that he will avoid doing ads for these brands (Pan Masala) in future.
All three Khans pay the highest fees, Akshay and Amitabh do government advertisements for free Prabhakar told that at present the three Khans of the film industry i.e. Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir charge the highest amount of money for doing ad films. Sometimes they also take equity or shares in the brand for which they do the ad.
On the other hand, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar are two such celebrities who do not take money for government advertisements. They do ad films for them for free. Amitabh Bachchan's polio ad and Akshay Kumar's anti-smoking ad are examples of this.
Amitabh Bachchan's punchline 'Do boond zindagi ki' in the polio ad became very famous.
The charge for telecasting a 10-second ad once is up to Rs 5 lakh Prabhakar told that channels charge money for telecasting ad films. Every channel charges different fees. Some channels charge 100 rupees for telecasting a 10-second ad once, while some charge 50 rupees. Some channels even charge up to 5 thousand rupees for showing a 10-second ad once. In this way, channels show ads several times a day. The more times they show it, the more money they get from the brand.
On the channels where cricket matches are streamed live, Rs 3-5 lakh are charged for showing a 10-second ad.
The charge for showing a 10-second ad film during the streaming of shows which have very high TRP is up to Rs 3-4 lakh. Overall, the program which has more viewership, the higher is the cost of telecasting the ad.
Ad films are made for branding and sale of products Prabhakar told that ad film is made due to these 3 factors.
- First- for branding
- Second- for sale of the product
- Third- to remind people about the product
Explaining the third point, Prabhakar said, 'We watch MDH masala ads from time to time. The first line of the jingle of these ads is 'Asli masala-masala sach-sach'… and as soon as we hear it, the image of MDH masala clicks in our mind. In this way, the audience is able to connect with the product, resulting in profit in sales.
The most important thing is to make the ad of any product very interesting, so that the audience can connect and become ready to buy it.
Prabhakar said that when Dadaji Dharampal Gulati of MDH passed away, the biggest problem was who would be the face of this ad now. Then we made a strategy. We made his son the face of the ad, but put Dadaji's picture in the background. This helped the audience connect easily.
When the actor did not come for the shoot, Dharampal Gulati himself came on camera and then became famous as MDH's Dada Ji There is a story behind why Dharampal Gulati thought of promoting his own brand. Actually, an old man was chosen for this ad. He had to play the role of the father of the lead heroine of the ad. The day the shoot was to take place, that man could not reach.
The shoot was getting late. Dharmpal Gulati was also present there. He asked the director the reason for the delay. The director said why don't you feature yourself. People present there were shocked. Everyone thought how can the owner himself do the ad. Dharmpal Gulati then said come on, don't delay, get the shoot done by me. Later when this ad was telecast, the audience gave it a good response.
Dharampal Gulati died on 3 December 2020 at the age of 98.
It can take 10 days to one month to create the punch line of an ad People remember the ad of any product only by its punch line. Before making the punch line, the concept of that product is understood. First, it is considered why, how and in what way the ad should be made? After this, work is done on the punch line and tag line.
Writing plays the most important role in creating a punch line. Some punch lines are created in 10 days, while others take 1 month to create.
VFX and special effects are also used in shooting ad films The shooting location is decided according to the nature of the ad. Sometimes shooting is done on real locations, and sometimes sets are made as per demand. When a celebrity is cast in an ad film, it is very difficult to shoot on real locations. In such a situation, sets are made. After shooting on the set, some part is also created with VFX and special effects.
Some ad films require multiple locations to be shown. If the budget is high then shooting is done at different locations, but when the budget is low then these locations are created through VFX.
Casting of actors is done according to the script Casting actors in an ad film is the most difficult task. First of all, it is seen which actor fits in the ad film according to the script.
Sometimes companies select the actor in advance. Then the writing is done keeping that actor in mind. In this case, casting is done first and scripting is done later.
