Dubsmash has triggered the untamed actor within plenty of social media maniacs as they mime to their desired dialogues, songs and dance moves. The lip-synching app has not only gotten 192 countries frenzied over it, but has also become the darling of Bollywood too, who by all means are fondly embracing the app.
After realizing the potential of social media, Bollywood has evolved from the good old YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter ways to woo their audience and now caught hold of Dubsmash.
Dubsmash-ing promotions
Dubsmash debutant Dil Dhadakne Do released this year in June, when the stunning leads Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra Dubsmashed each other’s dialogues from the movie. Singh, posted the video on Instagram and managed to get over 42k likes.
Two much dysfunction in one dubsmash!! @priyankachopra
A video posted by Ranveer Singh (@ranveersingh) on
Manisha Tandel Kerlekar, Digital Manager, Yash Raj Films said Dubsmash saying, “Short-form video content has become mainstream as waning attention spans require ‘insta-entertainment’. Say it quick, say it well. A platform like Dubsmash becomes ideal for content businesses such as movies since it lets them promote and share movie assets with a relevant and engaged audience.”
Social media being a lucrative platform for film-makers allows massive scope of promotions by leaving enough space for experimentation to throw more surprises at the audience. A considerable portion of film marketing budgets are now reserved for pre-release promotions, making movie marketing on Dubsmash a hot trend.
Channels for promotion
Gaurav Gera ak.a Chutki, the spanking new internet star, has taken over social media with his short and droll reality webisodes. With a soaring 210k followers on Instagram, Gaurav Gera, has laid his footprints on the internet world and managed to get attention from Bollywood biggies to promote their movies.
The fresh duo, Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt were on a promotional spree and made their Dubsmash debut at comedian Gaurav Gera’s show ‘Shopkeeper and chutki,’ that has a total of 196k followers on Instagram. Dilwale stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol too caught hold of Shopkeeper- Chutki to promote their films. Daisy Shah of Hate Story 3 also appeared with Gera.
Isn't she the best ???? #shopkeeper #gauravgera #ChutkiShopkeepaaAurWoh #chutki @aliaabhatt A video posted by Gaurav Gera (@gauravgera) on
A video posted by Gaurav Gera (@gauravgera) on
Shopkeeper - @iamsrk #shahrukhkhan #hanjibenji #Dilwale #shopkeeper #gauravgera #meera A video posted by Gaurav Gera (@gauravgera) on
A video posted by Gaurav Gera (@gauravgera) on
Dubsmash in the social media space
Dubsmash is a rather personalized, sassy medium of promotion allowing celebrities to share their masterpieces on any social media forum hence, reaching the globe at just one click.
The runaway success film, Bajrangi Bhaijaan was promoted via Dubsmash on Instagram and Facebook by the Bhaijaan of Bollywood himself. Salman Khan promoted the movie along with co-star Nawaazuddhin Siddhiqi where both the actors swapped dialogues in the selfie video (velfie).
Salman KhanRemember Salman Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui tried to find Munni’s parents?#ThrowbackThursday
Posted by Dubsmash on Thursday, October 15, 2015
“Dubsmash is a personal interactive space between the actors and the audience that has pushed up the level of promotion,” Varun Duggirala, co-founder and business head of The Glitch claimed.
Crowd-sourcing
The ubiquitous love to imitate film stars has been around for longer than you can remember. Not very surprisingly, as soon as Dubsmash began catching up, users started mimicking their admired celebrities.
Movie makers were quick to leverage this trend by crowd-sourcing video from fans, turning them into ambassadors of the movie.
What better example than Salman Khan’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo that made the fans and folks ambassadors of the movie, taking Dubsmash ablaze.
From the youngest star Harshaali Malhotra of Baajrangi Bhaijaan fame to veteran celebrities Helen and Waheeda Rehman shaked their leg on the title track of the movie.
Apart from the leads - Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor, their Bollywood pals Sridevi, Shilpa Shetty, Arbaz Khan, Amrita Arora, Jacqueline Fernandez and Richa Chaddha posted their versions of the song.
A video posted by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo performed by the 2 most beautiful women A video posted by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on
Not just this, the super-energetic drama king of Bollywood, Ranveer Singh adopted a similar technique and managed to get the legend - Amitabh Bachchan himself to dub a dialogue from his movie Bajirao Mastani. Along with him, Singh dubsmashed with film-maker Raju Hirani, cricketer Sourav Ganguly, journalist Rajeev Masand and Anupama Chopra, former co-star Anushka Sharma and more.
Now this .. is Epic !!! :))) the Biggest 'B' of all @amitabhbachchan #BajiraoMastani @eros_now
A video posted by Ranveer Singh (@ranveersingh) on
Kerlekar believes “Moment marketing is the key, context and timing play a vital role in hitting the right notes. Influencers and brand collaborations also go a long way in getting additional visibility.”
Cross promoting
The world aww-ed at the superstar Khan bromance, when Salman become Raj and Shah Rukh Khan became Prem to support each other. Bollywoods biggest Khans posted a Dubsmash video of them cross-promoting their films by dancing to the music of each other’s movies to promote Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Dilwale.
For u @sonamkapoor and @beingsalmankhan love love love sorry prem prem prem
A video posted by Varun Dhawan (@varundvn) on
When asked about the movie promotion that stuck with him, Varun replied, “The interplay Dubsmash between Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Dilwale was quite interesting.”
A dubSmashing 2016?
Wrapping up, Manisha Tandel Kerlekar affirmed, “2014 was declared as the year of selfies. 2015 has seen a sharp focus on videos, with Dubsmash spearheading the space. It’s simple: be adaptive. Trends evolve.”
Innovation is the spice of entertainment as stagnancy or monotony will ultimately divert the audience from the space. Crave for creativity is not astonishing and Bollywood for now is making the most of it through Dubsmash.
Nonetheless, with all big budget movies relying on it, movie marketing through Dubsmash edges on the fear of being overdone.