Last night Sony telecast last year's megahit Dhoom. What struck me was :"If only Yashraj films had reflected on what they did right with Dhoom - and done the same with Bunty aur Babli".
Dhoom was hyped as a boys n bikes film and lived upto that promise. It was cops vs robbers story where we weren't given much time to think. No background info on WHY John Abraham is a bad guy or why Abhishek is a good one. Bas, they are what they are - you just sit back and enjoy the high speed chase sequences. And for the comic element there was Uday Chopra.
Another smart thing was the using just a few really good songs and repeating them several times through the film. The same would've worked wonders for Bunty aur Babli.
Ad-ding it all up
But what this post is really about is John Abraham. In the year since Dhoom's release this guy's star has really started shining brightly. He was, in fact, the reason the girls went to see the film (Abhishek bhi hai, par is picture mein John pretty much overshadows him). Casting him was a very good idea - he fit the role to a 'T'.
Now, John is the new hot favourite for product endorsements. He is currently featured in ads for:
a) Wrangler jeans
b) Titan Fastrack eye gear
c) Yamaha bikes
All the products are good fits with his image and personality. Especially Yamaha - because the ad he features in is promising the 'next revolution' in biking . John adds source credibility as a guy with a passion for bikes even off-screen.
Now one just hopes he does not go and sign up a dozen more commercials and ruin it all. Being an ex-advertising guy (he was a media planner with Enterprise advertising before ramp modelling and films beckoned) I think John has the right fundas on how to manage his personal positioning. And I hope that good sense prevails over greed.
Really, seeing Prerna (of Kasautii) in a B grade comemrcial for P P Design Estate or Salman Khan plugging Dollar Club banians you have to wonder... Surely certain kinds of endorsements end up costing you more in image terms than they earn you in cash!
P.S. In case you are a John Abraham fan, the latest issue of JAM - out on stands now - happens to have published his poster. Just a happy coincidence :)
