Movie Promotion in a Prison: Robust Events Executes ‘Lucknow Central’ Song Launch at Yerwada Jail
by EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | September 7, 2017 | News
Robust Events Viacom18 Lucknow Central Farhan Akhtar
The movie 'Lucknow Central' is based on how a group of prisoners form a band within the walls of a prison, and so the launch of a song in Farhan Akhtar's movie ‘Lucknow Central,’ saw Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd and Robust Events come together to execute the event inside Yerwada Central Prison, Pune on August 15.
The client brief given to Robust Events was to conduct a music launch event at the premises of a jail on Independence Day, with media and inmates present. The event had to be conducted either in Mumbai, Pune or Tihar Jail, Delhi.
Getting permission from the prison was a challenge for the agency. “We started scouting permissions from prison authorities for doing an event inside the prison premises. We spoke to Taloja Juvenile Home which was rejected by client. Then we started speaking to Tihar, which looked easier in the beginning but got a no from them as well. In the meantime, our application for Yerwada Jail was also rejected by Addl. DGP prison, Maharashtra’s office as well,” remarked Sunny Makasare, Head Business & Strategy, Robust Events.
However, the agency requested for a meeting to further discuss it, and after a long round of discussions they agreed to give permission to conduct an event. Makasare went on, “We thought, ‘great we’ve got the permissions,’ but that was just the first hurdle of the race. The same permission copy had to be submitted to Superintendent of the Yerwada Jail. They had their own terms and conditions to do an event there.”
The Jail agreed only for 30 pax to come in, and was not going to allow video and photographs to be made. The other conditions were no mobile phones, and a strict time slot of 3 hours for the setup, while the event had to start and finish at the stated time.
“With these conditions, it looked as if the event would never take place,” said Makasare. “We again started discussing with the authorities, did multiple visits to them and the prison premises to understand all the logistics. And finally we got the permission for 75 Pax, 2 video cameras and 2 photographer, with additional time for setup. This being our first interaction with Viacom18 it was even more important for us to make sure that everything is smooth onsite. All the efforts paid well and the event was a great success.”
The song "teen kabutar" was launched with actor Farhan Akhtar and the co - stars of Lucknow Central present, while the audience included 4000 inmates of the prison. The event turned out to be a special day not only for the inmates who got an opportunity to watch Farhan Akhtar singing live for them, but also a heart-warming moment for the team of “Lucknow Central”.
The event coincided with India’s 71st Independence Day and also saw one of the inmates sing ‘Chahunga tujhe main sanjh sawere,’ while a constable crooned the patriotic track ‘Ae mere watan ke logon,’ which was an emotional moment for all present.
Keeping in mind the interest of the inmates, the prison authorities have said they will consider arranging a special screening of the film on September 15.
The client brief given to Robust Events was to conduct a music launch event at the premises of a jail on Independence Day, with media and inmates present.