As always Naseeruddin Shah has the guts to say what other actors only whisper in private.
“I won’t spend my time and the producer’s money to do publicity for new releases. It’s futile, a complete waste of time and energy,” reasons Naseer resolutely and has refused to come forward to do the mandatory promotional stuff for his new film Iraada which opens this week.
This stubborn stance may irk the producers. But Naseer doesn’t care. “Look,Aamir Khan didn’t go from city to city to promote Dangal. It is one of the biggest hits of all times. I don’t do publicity.The only time I did it the film didn’t do well. That was Dedh Ishqiya.”
There is a growing belief among actors that film publicity is a huge waste of resources for producers. One young actor known to be practical level-headed and responsible says, “Given a chance I wouldn’t do any publicity.Sure, we collect crowds when we go to city malls . But not one of those in the crowds cheering for us will come to see our film just because we asked them to.Sometimes the budget for publicity is almost the same as the budget for shooting the film. It is insane.”