At a time when film marketing is becoming the same routine exercise of stars making appearances on reality or other television shows and giving interviews to the print, electronic and other media – and all this in the week in which the film is due for release or seven days before or after that – filmmaker Farah Khan at least had the courage to do something different. Not only different but also well-thought of and interesting.
For the music release of Tees Maar Khan (Check out pics!) on the 15th of November, the lady director who can give a complex to any male director (she has directed two films, both hits), booked an entire train for the media and her stars to travel from Bombay to Lonavla. On the train journey, Farah released the music of her film. Akshay Kumar, who makes it clear to all his producers when he signs their films, that he would neither shoot nor be available on Sundays for any work, made an exception this time and reached CST station in Bombay a good 45 minutes before the Indian Railways could give the train an engine to take it to the hill-station in Maharashtra. Both, Katrina Kaif and Akshay, created mini stampedes at the railway station when they alighted their cars and made their way to the train. The film’s music directors, Vishal-Shekhar, lyricist Anvita Dutt Guptan, producer Shirish Kunder who is also one of the writers of the film (the co-writer being Shirish’s brother, Ashmit Kunder) and UTV’s Ronnie Screwvala were all there on the train. UTV and Akshay co-produce the film with Shirish and Farah.
Read more: Akshay Kumar: “I’ve had 14 flops in a row.”
Lonavla came alive like rarely before when the train carrying so many celebrities pulled into the station. Farah had a live band stationed on the platform to welcome the unit and the press. She also had around 20 dancers to break into a dance on the film’s songs but the crazy crowds on the railway platform made that an impossible task. Not to worry! Farah had the dancers entertain the guests at Duke’s Resort where the entire group headed to for lunch.
Lunch over, the group headed back to Lonavla station to board the train to Bombay, singing Sheela ki jawani and Wallah wallah from Tees Maar Khan. As if to celebrate the release of the film’s hit music, the rain Gods became active when Lonavla had unseasonal rains just as Farah and her guests were all set to leave the sleepy hill-station.