March is supposed to be the month of three Pakistani film releases. A fact that might come as a surprise to some people considering how only the teams behind Laal Kabootar and Sherdil have been active throughout the whole month, in promoting their movies. Whereas the team behind Project Ghazi has done little to nothing to get the attention of the audience. We are not sure how that works.
Let’s have a look at all the promotions, or complete lack of, that Project Ghazi has done in preparation of its release.
The first buzz
After a rather unfortunate postponement of the movie’s release back in 2017, Project Ghazi entered the ground again with its final trailer. The release date for the movie mentioned in the trailer was 22nd of March 2019, and it looked like the industry was on the way to face yet another cluster of releases on a holiday, with three films gracing the screens.
However, at the beginning of March, the makers of Project Ghazi released the statement that they had pushed the release of their film from 22nd of March to 29th of March. The announcement, which happened through the movie’s official Facebook page, stated that the movie was being postponed, “in support of Pakistani cinema.”
Considering how the industry doesn’t have a steady flow of releases throughout the year, the decision sounded not only wise but was also welcomed. A movie willingly choosing to step away from a lucrative national holiday in favor of two other movies releasing on the same day? It is not a news one gets to hear too often.
Only posters to show for it
More than a half month after the announcement, Project Ghazi has yet to make any headlines which would garner positive buzz in anticipation of its release. Apart from new character posters being released for the film’s three main leads; Sheheryar Munawar, Humayun Saeed, and Syra Shahroz, the actors or the team behind the film haven’t done anything to promote the movie.
At the time of publishing this article, the film will be just a week away from its release. And yet, the actors of the film have talked more about the other two March releases via their shoutouts than their own movie. This does not bode well.
Too late for redemption?
Maybe not all is lost. We hear that the film’s promotions have been planned to start from Sunday. But between Sunday and the D-Day, there would be just five days remaining. Nowadays, TV dramas start their promotions weeks in advance. Films, by nature, always need more time in promotion. Will just five days be enough for a movie – that already looks like its been getting the step-child treatment from its makers – to leave its mark at the box office? Only time will tell.
Today’s cinematic age is all about promotions di game. While it’s true that going overboard promotions can potentially impact a movie negatively but no-promotions have never done any movie any favor. Project Ghazi is treading on very dangerous grounds with the kind of radio silence it has been exhibiting in the promotions game. We can only hope that they have some plan up their sleeves.
