“Blow the Whistle” for Manjunath
~ “Manjunath”, the Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary Man that releases on May 9th~
Come – blow the whistle, invites Viacom18 Motion Pictures as it announces the “Whistle-Blowing” campaign as a part of its new marketing initiative for its latest film- Manjunath.
A biopic on the IIM graduate Manjunath Shanmugham who took on the fuel mafia in 2005 and raised his voice against corruption, “Manjunath” the film aims to take this message to millions of Indians, motivating people to come forward and join the fight against the same.
Engaging its audiences with Manjunath the character and the ideals he stood for, Viacom18 Motion Pictures has launched a public platform by means of an exclusive microsite “www.whoismanjunath.com”. This platform is targeted to garner support for other whistleblowers and encourage the youth to “Speak-up” and stand for what is right. Identities of those who make submissions will be kept a secret that will protect whistle blowers.
The marketing approach taken by VMP for this movie has been to adopt a minimalistic approach with a high impact that will connect with a specific target audience. The collaterals for the film have also been designed to support this social awareness initiative. The ‘M’ in Manjunath is represented in the Devnagiri script that fuels the feeling of nationalism among audiences. The creation of the same is prominent not just in the Manjunath logo but in the designs of the brands associated with the film as well like Viacom18 Motion Pictures (VMP), ICOMO and Parikrama.
Talking about the marketing initiatives around this film, Rudrarup Dutta, Marketing Head – Viacom18 Motion Pictures says, “The marketing campaign of the film is inspired by the flavor of the film and the Manjunath campaign demanded a radical thought for it to appeal to young India and inspire them to start small, but nonetheless stand up for what is right. Manjunath’s story is one to be told and therefore, the film and our marketing initiatives around it reflect the image of the real Manjunath Shanmugham who fought for what he believed in.”
Elaborating on their experience on composing for the film, Sonam Sherpa, Nitin Malik and Subir Malik (Members of Parikrama) said, “It was not only a great opportunity but an unparalleled honour for us to be a part of such a great cause. This is probably the best one can ask for as music directors who are debuting on the silver screen. Each and every person associated with this film is very passionate about Manjunath and his story, including us. We look forward to the release now.
The Director of the film Sandeep Varma, said, “I feel that we have forgotten what our voice sounds like. Hopefully this campaign can help, in a small way, to get us familiar with our voice again. To express what we feel, without any fear. Manjunath is a shining example of being fearless and I hope some of his fearlessness can rub off on us.”
Explaining why he chose Parikrama for the music of this film he further added saying, “I’ve always been a rock music lover and I’ve pined to hear authentic rock in our Bollywood movies. This movie became a great opportunity for that, since this was also the kind of music Manjunath listened to. And the first name that popped into my head was Parikrama. But they threw me out saying, “Bollywood, no way!”
I left the script with them, and a couple of days later they called me saying they absolutely loved it and since then they were on. I think we have some fantastic compositions in the film.
Blow The Whistle… SUPPORT मANJUNATH!!!
Synopsis
Set in India’s hinterland, the film revolves around young Manjunath Shanmugam who joins an oil firm right after his elite education from IIM Lucknow. One day Manjunath goes missing after he realizes that there exists a large scale adulteration of fuel. Even after several threats to his life, Manjunath is undeterred and decides to uncover the truth and fight for justice. But his voice was silenced – He was shot dead on duty for doing what was right. Will his sacrifice be just a headline or will justice prevail?
Will Manjunath’s story inspire you to take a stand for what is right?
