Over the years, promotions for Bollywood movies have become bigger and grander. What was earlier limited to trailer and song releases, and celebs making an appearance on TV shows, has gone a step ahead. Now, film producers have found a new audience in students, tapping them where it matters the most - in their college premises. From trailer launches to releasing title tracks, campuses in Mumbai are serving as a great venue for filmmakers, who want to connect with youngsters. BT explores this trend.

COLLEGIANS ARE AN IMPORTANT TARGET AUDIENCE
Today, most big-budgeted, commercial Bollywood entertainers cater to the young audience. With college students being their target group, it makes sense for them to promote their films in campuses. Even though the current lot of students are not star-struck, because of their accessibility on social media, they respond positively to stars who make an appearance. Bandhuli Chattopadhyay, a final year student at St Xavier's College says that celebrity alumni have a special connect with students. “Any celeb who has been an exXavierite is a hit with the crowd. Vidya Balan, an alumni, attended one such event.“ It has also been observed that younger actors like Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sidharth Malhotra and Shraddha Kapoor are good crowd-pullers.

CAMPUSES OFFER JUST WHAT PRODUCERS NEED
Be it taking selfies or shaking a leg with students, celebs know just what it takes to hit it off with them. Add to this, youngsters circulating these 'deets' on social media gives immediate exposure online - exactly what new-age filmmakers are looking at. Soumyadipta Banerjee, director of the autonomous media college in Mithibai College, says, “Hashtags, minute-by-minute updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, cheers and screams - all of these create a buzz for stars in colleges. This leads to a great word-of-mouth publicity. Plus, when actors attend college festivals, their presence is marked on the institute's website and social media pages, which further helps in the film's promotions.“

An immediate gratification for producers, unlike other means of publicity, this involves almost no cost. Right from the venue to lights, sounds and even volunteers are organised by the college.

THE FLIP SIDE OF PROMOTING IN INSTITUTES
Cultural events attended by Bollywood stars may be a win-win situation for colleges as well as the movie's marketing teams. But they come with their own set of hitches. Neeta Dam, cultural convenor of KC College's festival, explains, “When we invite celebs as special guests or judges for an event, they often tend to arrive late. Sometimes, they even leave before the competition ends. Ever so often, they can't make it and so we have to keep a back-up judge just to be safe.“

Just like colleges have guidelines for students, there are certain rules that promoters, too, have to abide by. While there aren't many hard-and-fast rules, care is taken to not disturb academic activities in any manner. Varun Vithalani, a third year BMS student at Mithibai College shares, “If a movie has bold scenes, we are asked not to play the trailer in the premises. In such cases, celebs perform with students and have a one-on-one interaction with them.“