MUMBAI: Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani has revealed that such is the emphasis on creating a “buzz” in the industry that he was told to ask Farhan Akhtar to create a “scandal” to get more limelight than Kangana Ranaut during “Lucknow Central”.
Kangana has been in the news recently over her row with actor Hrithik Roshan. She gave multiple interviews during the release of her film “Simran”.
Around the same time, Farhan’s “Lucknow Central” released, which Advani had produced.
Talking about the culture of excessive marketing, the filmmaker said the process is surprising.
“I got a call from a marketing person saying Kangana’s scandal is going on, tell Farhan to create a scandal. This is an actual conversation! Farhan has to have a scandal otherwise our buzz won’t go up. I said ‘but what scandal?’ and they were like ‘any scandal but we need it,'” Advani said.
“I don’t understand it at all. How can I approach Farhan and say ‘hey let’s have a scandal, otherwise no one will watch our film,'” he added.
He was speaking at a special panel discussion on producers at the ongoing Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival. He was joined by Prernaa Arora and Vikramaditya Motwane.
Motwane said the industry should come together to create better content.
“Actors, writers, directors, studios, we need to take it to the next level in terms of content, presentation. Our quality is getting better for sure but we need to work harder,” Motwane said. (AGENCIES)