SRK & Anushka Sharma’s Poster From Imtiaz Ali’s New Film Indicative Of A Larger Problem

Imtiaz Ali can easily be one of the more prolific filmmakers of our generation. His films provoke thought, self reflection, are counter intuitive to the norm and tackle subjects that most commercial Bollywood films consider too deep or whimsical. However, his latest two releases have something very much in common, proving that Ali definitely needs to shake things up when it comes to current storytelling style

Check out the First Look poster from Imtiaz Ali's newest movie, and why I think he needs to fire his Graphic Designer.

We were recently treated to a first look poster of the latest Imtiaz Ali film starring Anushka Sharma & Shah Rukh Khan, that is currently untitled. The film, being tentatively referred to as 'The Ring', has no major details regarding plot or story, but just the stars attached thus far.

However, the release of this first look poster causes some concern. The image itself is not the greatest, looking very amateurishly made. From an aesthetic perspective, the poster is very poorly made. The text, composition look more like an Instagram collage created on one's iPhone than a professional film's First Look image.

As an art student and Bollywood film enthusiast reacted on Twitter:

"There's an over saturation of warm colors, not enough back ground, the figures appear to be floating and distract viewer's eyes from credits and titles. Which is horribly placed [as] you can barely see it."

As unattractive as this image is, it reminds me of yet another notably poorly made Bollywood film poster, the movie of which resulted in similar problems; and coincidentally by the same filmmaker, Imtiaz Ali.

I am of course talking about the 'Tamasha' poster, which featured similar reaction, and has a very similar vibe to it as well. That poster was critiqued with exactly the same complaints of text placement, lack of professional quality or design elements, and the film suffered from similar issues as well. Ali essentially recycled a similar protagonist character from his other films like 'Jab We Met' and 'Rockstar' into a different setting and circumstances. Just like how this poster seems to have been recycled from the 'Tamasha' one.

You decide...

This repeated over using of similar concepts causes concern about 'The Ring', and how much of the film itself may fall into the similar patterns as Ali's previous films. This new untitled film also seems to be resorting to very tacky gimmicks to create publicity for itself.

The release of the poster happened on Twitter by friends of the main leads Alia Bhatt & Salman Khan. The stars seem to have a running joke of the film not having a definite title, even though a release date is set and poster has been released. The banter sees the celebs being mock-surprised and asking each other about the title.

August is tooo far away ya!!!!! @AnushkaSharma @iamsrk.. Am saving the date immediately.. But Imtiaz what to put in as the title???#CantWait pic.twitter.com/Jme1LrPG4K

— Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08) November 29, 2016

I wouldn't be surprised if this leads to some sort of online media campaign for audiences to vote on, or choose the name for the film, or be involved in some way. This is not a new concept, as even Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Omkara' engaged in a similar fan campaign to decide it's final title.

Now, there are two things that could be happening. Firstly, the makers have already decided on the movie name, and all this is just an elaborate way to create media buzz about the film, get fan engagement and dominate the media cycle. The star driven culture of Bollywood is very much based on fan participation, and this tactic fully utilizes that. And if that's the case, it's worrying that the makers feel they have to go such extreme lengths to promote a Shah Rukh Khan film, and shows at least a lack of confidence towards Ali's ability to tell a successful story. Especially after the divisive response of 'Tamasha'. 

The other factor at work could be that they truly have not yet decided on the title of the film, but are still going ahead with the schedule release, poster, trailer launch, etc. If true, this would call into question the prioritization of the makers, given the fact that they've starting to give audiences glimpses into the film without even having the most basic aspect of the film figured out yet.

While Bollywood may be a chaotic place, I refuse to believe even this level of un coordination from them. So if this is all a promotional stunt, I would still expect a better and more professionally designed poster.

I'm still hoping this is an isolated incident and doesn't have any bearing on the quality of the movie itself. Imtiaz Ali is a great director, and his collaboration with one of the greatest actors of the industry should be something we all look forward to.

The yet untitled Imtiaz Ali directed film releases August 11th, 2017. Starring Shah Rukh Khan & Anushka Sharma.

How do you feel about the first look of Imtiaz Ali's next film.