Aamir Khan : the star marketeer

I guess Aamir Khan should have rightfully written the book ‘’ What They Don’t Teach You At Havard.’’ The versatile actor has proved time and again his inborn marketing genius of promoting his films.

The reclusive actor knows well when to crawl outside his shell and hog the media limelight. Khan has always made himself a saleable commodity by breaking his average five-year sabbaticals only to promote his films. After donning the producer’s cap, this period has considerably shrunk.

The latest marketing gambit of the man is for Delhi Belly. He has vociferously termed the film as an adult fare. This act has been termed by Mahesh Bhatt as the forbidden fruit syndrome. Who would miss an adult fare?

Even the film promos feature producer Aamir who tells his actors that the movie is going to spoil his squeaky clean image !!

And hey, didn’t Bhanja Imran file a PIL against fixing the legal drinking age to 25 years by the Maharashtra government. No awards for guessing which film is going to benefit from the media hype arising from the issue.

Few would have forgotten the marketing blitz created by Aamir for his film 3 Idiots. How he roamed incognito across the country in different getups and systematically released its video in media to push the film. The film’s business is a record.

Aamir is known for his fetish for donning the garb of the character from his latest film in real life too.
So we had a fill of his Mangal Pandey mane when the film was in the making. Ditto for Gajani and Dhobi Ghat.

Aamir makes sure that his that the TV commercials that he is doing at the moment also act as a vehicle for his film promotion. Thus we find his screen image and getup getting reflected in the characters of his commercials.

For the sake of his films, Smart Khan hardly misses a chance to strike a social stance. Flashback to 2006 when he joined hands with Medha Patkar to espouse the Narmada Bachao cause. The backdrop, of course was release of Rang De Basanti, a film with a nationalist/revolutionary streak. His take on education post 3 Idiots and on media manipulation post Peepli Live are also case in the point.

It is a fact that unlike other stars Aamir doesn’t has an agency to handle his endorsement business. And reportedly he makes Rs. 5 crore per endorsement per year while his peers earn the same amount for a three year contract. So much for his business acumen.

Of the three Khans he is the savviest, the smartest. The business of his movies speak for themselves. A perfectionist attitude plus street-smart marketing makes him the real King Khan of Btown.