Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; December 25, 2014)

The Film and TV Producers Guild has urged its members to refrain from displaying posters of their films on public walls and government-maintained structures across the country.

Mukesh Bhatt, president of the guild, who has started the campaign, says: “I wish to set an example by ensuring that the posters of my forthcoming film Khamoshiyan — Silences Have Secrets are not pasted on public walls. I believe this practice will motivate the public to emulate the film industry’s path and thereby, play an important role in keeping India clean.”

Filmmaker Vipul Shah, too, doesn’t agree with the idea of promoting a film by defacing public structures. “Pasting posters on walls is an illegal activity. I firmly believe that posters and hoardings don’t add to the revenue of a film. But, filmmakers are asked by distributors for posters and hoardings for film promotions especially in smaller cities.”

Adding that investing in such publicity material was a big deal for smaller filmmakers, Vipul suggests, “One has to spend at least Rs 50 lakh on it. But this campaign will do a world of good to low- budget films.”

Producer Ramesh Taurani and filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar also welcomed the guild’s decision. “We should also ensure that posters of political parties are not pasted on walls either,” says Taurani while Bhandarkar adds: “I am happy that the industry has decided to avoid posters as there are several other ways to promote a film.”