Movie promotion has come a long way from the travelling loudspeakers to slick motion posters and teasers of trailers (of trailers). One thing that has remained a constant through all of this is – the Bollywood movie poster. It certainly has moved from the street walls to our phones, from hand-painted to digital – but the essential function has stayed the same – letting more and more people know about the movie.
A movie poster can be judged on various criteria – Is this something someone would put up on their wall? Does it generate enough intrigue for audiences to go and watch the movie? Does the poster reflect the theme of the movie?
However the more objective and pertinent question is – Is it different? Is it imaginative? Does it stand out from the rest? We asked these questions of Bollywood movie posters (from the last 15 years) and found that there are many recurring styles – cliches Bollywood resorts to for different genres. Styles are so prevalent that posters just keep rehashing the same visual tropes. Here are a few –
1. The Top-Bottom – Want to show off your romantic leads? Just have them floating at the top and then use a generic image below – either someone walking away or standing. This format almost feels like the creators demarcated the top and bottom of the poster as – Romantic-Drama or Romantic-Thriller. Emraan Hashmi is the poster child (um) for this style.
2. Silhouettes – This style tiptoes between the indie and the commercial. A bunch of stills and faces floating inside a cutout, giving a sense that it's a character study of a figure shrouded in mystery.
3. The Two-Face – How do you show that that there are two contrasting characters in your film? Maybe the protagonist and the antagonist? You crop their faces into half and put them next to each other.
4. The Floating Heads – Perhaps the most overused style in the history of cinema (not just in Bollywood), this style randomly places head-shots of a bunch of characters next to each other. It answers the question – How do I showcase all the characters in my multi-starrer movie all at once? There is barely any context to these cropped characters – their expressions being the only way to discern what the movie might be about. Movies have always banked on the popularity of their cast to sell the movie, but the floating heads push this to a limit.
5. The Awkward Family Photo – How would you showcase all the characters in your movie while indicating that they are a part of a dysfunctional family? The age old family photograph template is your answer. The characters posing for the camera are often sitting/standing to indicate some kind of hierarchy or power dynamic.
6. ❤️ – In the age of social media, when movie names are often shortened to a series of emojis, using a heart as a stand-in for romance is the most obvious thing to do. And so, it has been done – as a puzzle, a prison or just a quirky collage of the characters.
7. Shirtless For No Reason – Movies are always trying to find excuses to show those eight packs. Many posters don't even make too much of an effort, with many characters appearing shirtless without any real reason to be so. Why exactly would you remove your shirt before pointing a gun to your head?