“Ellaa naarikalum undallo!” – This was pretty much everyone’s reaction after seeing the ensemble cast of Varshangalkku Shesham (VS) when its teaser dropped back in February. The trademark elements were all there: Uplifting music, vibrant visuals, moments of humour, romance and drama. All in all, a quintessential Vineeth Sreenivasan film.
Interestingly, the teaser by Cutzilla.inc, was released at a time when everyone was a little overwhelmed by the tsunami of blockbusters (read Premayugam Boys). It did look like Malayalam cinema was undergoing a revolution like never before. And everyone intrinsically hoped that the year would continue to gift them with stupendous, game-changing films. Some of this goodwill organically got converted into positive hype for upcoming major releases, which included the likes of Varshangalkku Shesham (VS), Aavesham and Aadujeevitham.
As someone who has always bought into (and enjoyed) the rose-tinted idealism of the Vineeth Sreenivasan Universe, I was super pumped for this film. And I was all the more hyped for the film’s trailer release. Because, here is a man who has given us some super-memorable trailers; a man who prudently understands what a trailer must – and must not – do to the viewer.
When the VS trailer, edited by Cutzilla.inc, finally dropped on 21 March, quite a few things cropped up in my mind. I watched and rewatched the 2-minute 46-second clip, trying to make sense of it all…
(1) We hear Dhyan’s voiceover, addressing how one of the friends climbs the ladder of success while the other falters and fails every step of the way. While the former is being addressed, we see shots of Pranav, and for the latter, we see sequences involving an emotionally charged Dhyan, a few alcohol bottles et al. There are mentions of a director and an actor – Dhyan is shown to be a director..so Pranav must be the actor. Of course.
(2) A conflict – playwright Deepak Parambol lamenting to Dhyan about their lead actor bailing on them – is placed bang in the middle of the trailer, and the shots that succeed suggest that Pranav deceives Dhyan at some point in the story. To drill this thought into our heads, we also hear someone say in passing, “Avan ellareyum manipulate panna therinjavan da”.
(3) Lots of shots around Dhyan. Adolescent Dhyan, middle-aged Dhyan, aged Dhyan…but just middle-aged Pranav. No aged Pranav. Why haven’t they shown an aged Pranav? Is he going to die? Wait…is present-day Pranav going to be played by…? No, that’s asking too much!
(4) What is Nivin Pauly’s character doing in a film that looks to be a fairly emotional drama centred around two pals?
(5) Dhyan and Pranav play friends who arrive at Kodambakkam in the 70s to try their luck in the movies. The film explores the ups and downs of their friendship as they navigate their careers. Hmmm. The casting and the circumstances are just too uncanny. Could this be inspired by pop culture lore that every Malayali is familiar with – the rollercoaster friendship between Mohanlal and Sreenivasan?
A trailer that leaves the viewers intrigued with open-ended questions, is already a successful one, because it ensures that a sizable chunk of the audience enters the theatres on the first day – its primary purpose.
But it was only after having seen the film, that I realized that the VS trailer had done more than just intrigue the viewer. It elevated the film-watching experience of the viewer. How, you ask? (Spoilers Ahead!)
Precisely three steps:
- Mood encapsulation
- Concealment
- Misdirection
Part One
By Mood encapsulation (inganoru terminology onnumilla, chumma ithiri patti show), I mean the trailer does a good job in conveying the overall tone and theme of the film within three minutes. The music and visuals indicated it to be feel-good in tone. The ending portions of the trailer suggested the film to be a friendship-laced, heartfelt homage to cinema. And Varshangalkku Shesham (VS) was exactly what it promised to be: A friendship tale that also functioned as a cathartic ode to the unfulfilled dreams of thousands of aspiring artists.
With mood encapsulation, the makers can set the right expectations, so people know what emotions they may harbor by watching the film – in other words, what the aftertaste of the film might be. This is pretty much a marketing tool that can bring the right audience to the theatres.
This isn’t the first time Vineeth has nailed this bit. Remember the Thattathin Marayathu trailer? The Alphonse Puthren edited cut was a brilliant window into Vinod’s dreamy, light-hearted world. It gave us everything it promised – charming leads, good music, situational comedy, and of course, the thattam frenzy!
Part Two
Now once the target audience is brought to the theatres, it’s important to induce feelings of surprise in them. Varshangalkku Shesham (VS) can’t be EXACTLY what they had extrapolated it to be, based on the promotional material. That’s where concealment – hiding certain crucial aspects of the film – comes in. The VS trailer deftly keeps two things under wraps:
(1) Pranav Mohanlal’s aged look – Pranav’s aged look was probably kept under wraps so that the interval block – where his present-day form is revealed – gives the viewer a high.
(2) Details about Nivin Pauly’s character – What a genius call not to include Nivin’s talkie portions in the trailer and thereby colour people’s perceptions about his role! What we witnessed for those twenty-odd minutes of his screen time (especially those of us who watched it on the first day) was an unprecedented, hilarious piece of meta-commentary that will go down in the history books. Pauly, in the form of his life, steals the show primarily because of the shock value provided by his character’s kalaparipadis. And it was so important to have that element of concealment to create this shock value.
This is again a tool that Vineeth has employed multiple times; most notably in the trailers of Oru Vadakkan Selfie (where only the humorous portions from the first half are highlighted, leaving the more serious happenings of the second half aside) and Jacobinte Swargarajyam (which cherrypicks cute family moments and does not address the financial conflict).
Outside of the Vineeth filmography, a recent trailer that brilliantly used this technique was Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, where the game-changing subplot – that of Darshana smashing the patriarchy, literally – was cleverly hidden for the audiences to experience it first-hand in theatres.
Part Three
The above two points are fairly common in most well-cut trailers, so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The third aspect though, is what gave me a few aha moments in the theater. It’s not a novel practice; in fact, it is a commonly performed trick that magicians resort to: The Act of Misdirection, i.e. directing the audience to a belief that ultimately turns out to be false.
(1) By superimposing mismatched voiceovers and visuals, the trailer leads the viewer to assume certain traits and story beats regarding Dhyan and Pranav’s characters. Alas! We learn that Pranav doesn’t play an actor, but a musician. In fact, a large part of the film is centred on music (another facet concealed in the trailer)
(2) More importantly, the plot shows a complete role reversal of the winner-loser dynamic. Dhyan turns out to be the one who gets the success, while Pranav is on the losing end of the equation. Having seen the trailer some ten times before the film, this turn of events was quite mind-bending.
(3) The so-called ‘conflict’ of Pranav manipulating and deceiving Dhyan, turns out to be a red herring – an act of manipulation by Vineeth (upon us!). The real cause of conflict – a subplot involving Indradhanush (Kalesh Ramanand) – is almost brushed under the rug, with a minute reference in the trailer.
This is definitely a new weapon in Vineeth’s marketing arsenal; one that I personally believe more editors should attempt to do. In fact, I wasn’t able to think of many films that brought in this element of purposeful misdirection in their trailers. If you can recall some examples, please add them in the comments below!
Varshangalkku Shesham (VS) is currently running to packed houses, and while a lot of this traction can be attributed to Vineeth Sreenivasan’s brand equity as a director, I believe that some of it is due to the interest that the film’s marketing materials have generated. So, credit where credit is due. Kudos to Cutzilla.inc and their editors – Nidhin Raj Arol and Kevin Karippery – for crafting one of the most memorable trailers in recent times!
