Until a Nepali film reaches the theater, many filmmakers think, ‘The discussion is going well.’ But only when most of the seats in the theaters are empty during the screening, do they think, ‘The promotion has failed.’ Two arguments that filmmakers make about the reasons why most Nepali films suffer losses every year are – weak story and weak marketing.

Producer Rohit Adhikari’s film ‘Maitighar’ was released on the occasion of Dashain in Asoj. Before the screening, Rohit had only seen the promotion of his own film everywhere. But the film did a business of only Rs 40 million. ‘After doing much less business than expected, I felt that we were not able to reach the general audience at all,’ says Rohit. Although Rohit had spent Rs 1.7 million on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok Boost for the film’s marketing. Although he adopted a new strategy during the release, He also announced a prize of Rs 5 lakh for the best video maker of the film's title song. Why didn't the film run despite spending Rs 50 lakh on marketing? 'There is a little buzz in Kathmandu, but our publicity is not reaching the general audience in remote places like Darchula, Baitadi, Dang or Dhangadhi,' he shares his experience.

In some cases, the audience doesn't even know when a film has come and gone. Rather, he believes that the number of films that have been released recently is possible due to 'mouth publicity'. He adds that the lack of creative support from the media to filmmakers in film promotion has also affected it. 'One, the audience is confused because there are so many channels of publicity. Another is that the news in the media is copied and pasted from what the media coordinator sends.' The audience does not trust it due to the lack of creative publicity, he says.

In 2016, he promoted the film marketing style on Facebook pages during the release of the film 'Gajlu'. At that time, he also coordinated with a page called 'Troll Nepal', which was popular among the youth. That helped in promoting the film. 'Like the new style of that time, we had to come up with creative plans in marketing according to the times, which is what I am thinking about in the current films,' he says.

As long as there is a situation where there is a good film among 10 bad films, it is difficult to convince the audience. - Deepakraj Giri The film 'Bhutan' directed by Binod Poudel, released on Baisakh 12, 2082, received positive reviews but remained weak in business. Actor Harivansh had worked hard in his acting career in the film. The film, which earned only 22 lakhs, did not last long in the theaters. Apart from a limited audience, many people did not know that this film had been released.

Filmmaker Abiral Thapa believes that the lack of sufficient budget for marketing has affected the business. He also argues that the teachers' movement in Kathmandu is also not suitable for the release time. 'In particular, 'Bhutan' was not made for the mass audience but for the OTT and global audience, in which 25 percent of the dialogues are in English,' he adds about the reason why the film did not do business in the theater.

Out of the 56 films released in 2082, 37 could not do business above Rs 10 million. Only four films did business above Rs 10 million. Thapa understands that the business of the film will be affected because the marketing of Nepali films is also weak along with the content.

‘I think the weakest aspect of the Nepali film industry so far is marketing. 80 percent of makers in our market are under the illusion that marketing and media publicity are the same,’ he says, ‘We don’t have a marketing plan. There is a wrong practice of considering marketing as just giving a contract to a media outlet to print news.’ He says that in Hollywood or Bollywood, even though distributors hire a marketing agency after buying a film and do planned work, that practice is not practiced in Nepal.

He feels that not allocating a budget for marketing is another big problem. ‘Producers are running around looking for money while doing post-production. In the end, there is no budget left for marketing. About 33 percent of the total budget of a film is needed for marketing. But that is not done here,’ he says. He believes that some films do not work when the team is confused about the target audience.

Some films are in the news even before their release, but their business is not as expected. Rishi Lamichhane's film 'Magne Raja', which was released last Bhadau, earned 49.6 million. Actor Kedar Ghimire was paid about 50 million rupees in this film. At that time, this film, which was in the news because of the actor's salary, did not do business as expected.

Not only 'Magne Raja', but also films like 'Zari 2' and 'Balidan' did not do business as expected. On the contrary, there are also films that were less popular before their release but filled the halls a few days after their release. Be it 'Paran' released in Kartik 2082 or 'Purna Bahadur's Sarangi' released in 2081. Recently, when the audience did not reach the theater, the production team has also been buying tickets worth lakhs and calling the audience. Examples of films that attracted more viewers through ‘word of mouth’ after they liked the film are ‘Purna Bahadur’s Sarangi’ and ‘Paran’.

Munal Ghimire, the producer of ‘Magne Raja’, says that a film will do well if the content is good and the publicity is strong. ‘Content is essential.’ But if a film is released to the theater without any publicity just because it has content, it will not be successful,’ he says. ‘Market management is as important as content. If market management is not good, it will be difficult to find a market even if it is of good quality.’

How much does a film benefit from planned publicity? Actress Keki Adhikari, who is also the producer of the film ‘Boksi Ko Ghar’, says in her experience, ‘This requires study and research.’

This film, released in 2081 Baisakh, was made for 10 million. The film did business of over 100 million. ‘We tried to market the film as a ‘commercial product’. For this, we collaborated with a new and energetic marketing team. Our main challenge was to break the misconception that films with female leads or films made on social issues do not work in our society. What we understood was that the weakness was in marketing and not releasing at the right time, not in the content,’ says Keki.

According to her, the team worked based on data and research rather than on hype. ‘What we discovered after studying past films is that women play a big role in the decision to go to the cinema in Nepal. We estimated that if we could attract 80 percent of the female audience to the theater, the film would be successful,' she adds.

Prakash Saput's song 'Bujhin Malle' played a significant role in 'Boksi Ko Ghar' attracting audiences to the theater. 'To attract the female audience, we needed a song that would touch their hearts. For this, we chose Prakash Saputji, because we found that his creativity touches women of all ages. In the visualization of the song, we presented it like a 'song drama', covering issues ranging from child marriage to other bitter realities of society. In the beginning, people did not realize that this was a song from the film, but gradually it created a big atmosphere,' she says.

They knew the target audience of this film. They planned accordingly. Not to mention, most of the audience on the first day of the show was women. ‘What I learned from this experience is that if we do research, understand the psychology of the audience and go to the floor with full preparation, any subject can be made commercially successful.’ This was both a big learning and achievement for us,’ she says.

Most of the Nepali films of filmmaker Rabindra Singh Baniya have done successful business at the box office. Their ‘Jatra’ series is the most hit series. Now, as the release of ‘Lalibazar’ approaches, Rabindra is active in the marketing management of this film. How do most of their films do good business?’ Rabindra says, ‘Marketing only provides information, but branding and selling points play a big role in getting the audience to the hall.’ In his experience, it is easy to provide information, but when the audience sees the information about the film on their mobile, it is important to create the impression that ‘this is a must-see’.

Ravindra's team wants a 'folder' to be created in the mind of the audience when they give the film's poster or news. Later, when the trailer and other materials are released, they are added to the same folder and in the end the audience feels 'this film cannot be missed'. He says that the team's strategy is to repeat old shots in the teaser or trailer to make the audience recall the film and connect information in a garland like this.

Also, Ravindra was already interested in marketing. Even while training in Gurukul, when there were no people to watch the play, he had prepared 101 points of marketing. After training with the president of a drama club in Norway, he had given various examples and explained that marketing could be done, which impressed him and dramatist Sunil Pokharel offered Rabindra a job. 'I was on my way to becoming an artist, so I also took on the responsibility of being an artist and leading the marketing team. From that time on, I understood that branding and marketing are different things,' he says.

During film promotions, they are 'like elected leaders', where every single viewer is important. They prioritize even the smallest reaction or photo from the audience. They also pay attention to media selection. 'We decide in advance where to give interviews and where not to go. We prioritize the media where our target audience is,' he says. Ravindra also has experience in allocating a sufficient budget for film promotion.

In the Nepali film industry, there is an understanding that when you say producer, you invest money. But Ravindra distinguishes between investors and producers. 'There is confusion between 'investor' and 'producer' in Nepal. The investor only invests money, but the producer plans how to sell the film and where to take it. We do these tasks in a planned manner with division of labor,' he says.

None of the films produced by artist Deepak Raj Giri have been weak commercially till date. Deepak says that the guarantee of entertainment provided by the film is the reason behind their success. 'Nowadays, when people have mobile phones, Netflix and plenty of content available in their hands, it is a challenge to bring it to the theater. The film needs to provide a different kind of entertainment. The main reason for the success of 'Chhakka Panja' is the audience's belief or legacy that their films are entertaining and that they do not have to be bored by watching this cinema,' says Deepak.

He believes that content is the main reason for the lack of success of Nepali films, rather than marketing. 'We have been telling the same kind of story for years.' Either we make films that are like copies of Hindi and South Indian films or we are repeating the same village story. The cinema business is in a state of decline due to the lack of habit of modifying the style of storytelling and working hard,' he says.

Even though the storylines of Deepak's films are different, the names are the same. For example, after 'Chhakka Panja 5', the new film to be made now will be called 'Chha Maya Chhapakkai 2'. Deepak says that there is a lot of pressure from the market not to have a different name. 'Nowadays, people are confused about whether a cinema will run or a Dashain film. If there is no old name or an established 'legacy', distributors are also reluctant to buy the cinema. We too cannot take the same risk and do not choose another name,' says Deepak.