That a movie can grip not only popular fancy but also the imagination of the many corporate sectors down the south, comes as a shocker rather than any pleasant surprise for those who are spared of the star mania at other parts of the country, like in Odisha.
The much-hyped Tamil movie Kabali not only had several private companies declaring its release date as a holiday for its employees—a rare feat of solidarity with the vary many, crazy fan clubs of Rajinikant, who are obviously and ubiquitously present in all spheres of life in the country, but the horror is that the popular car maker Maruti Udyog limited leads the mania by joining the bandwagon by launching a special Kabali edition of its Maruti swift version.
The car is painted with movie posters featuring Rajinikant on all its sides and made available for sale in its showrooms down south. No need to say that the move has been first of its kind for any commercial sector to practically use such brazen advertisement to clandestinely cash in on the Kabali fever for their own profits, directly or circuitously.
Thinking of private sectors, which come as a direct contrast to public sectors, at least in the popular imagination for its focused work culture, it was hitherto believed that they meant business as far as work culture is concerned. In contrast, the popular myth is that the Government offices and the employees in various departments are portrayed are slow and unfriendly people with little interest in their jobs except for what comes through the under the table dealings.
Government employees are also envied for enjoying numerous holidays in a year in a calendar year, which include numerous national holidays.
But a Government holiday for the release of a movie so that the employees can go and watch it on the very release date itself, is an absurd and a technically impermissible idea. Not even a casual leave application on that ground can be entertained. But one wonders if there has been cases of alibis on the leave applications, from casual sickness to urgent family works, whatever, to see the movie Kabali on its very release date itself.
The question is—though it is none of anyone’s business to ask a private business house why declare a day off for a movie—what happened to the much applauded work culture and business-minding of these corporate houses in literally shuttering down their offices for their employees to join the Kabali feverIJ Has any business house ever declared a day off when the nation mourns the sad demise of any of its political leadersIJ Have they ever toed in to show similar frenzy to revel in or commiserate with the prevailing mass sentiments that drive the Governments across the country to declare any day a public holidayIJ Though the media has spared these corporate houses any criticism, and has instead run headlines with explicit admiration for the roaring passion of the movie buffs, any uninfluenced mind may still see reasons to go hypercritical about this new found frenzy of the corporate houses because it smacks of nothing but commercial interest in their mind.
It is a kind of faint advertisement, subtle, low cost, but strong enough that works directly on people’s sentiments. The star struck crazy people that we Indians are, any show of solidarity with the fans’ sentiments are bound to pay off in promoting its brand name in their delirious psyche. I am sure this must have been a well thought out advertising strategy. As of the Maruti Swift Kabali special editions, one wonders whether that is disfiguring of the beauty of the vintage style the car has been known for, or a much cherished embellishment to flaunt one’s over anxiety, over expectancy, extreme craze and intensity of star-struck-ness, of course, if one could afford the expensive buy. One has to keep in mind that one may have to re-paint his car when the fever is over or be ready to buy another car when yet another movie of Rajinikant comes up. But if this smart, fan-pandering move fails to commercially yield profits, one doubts if there would be any similar suicidal advertisement move, read blotch, of any popular vehicle in the market.
(The writer is District Information and Public Relations Officer, Ganjam. The views expressed are his own)