Big screen effect: Of French beards, marketing case studies & littered tourist spots

• Pathaan, which led to the reopening of 25 single screens in India, is the latest example of the soft but significant power of movies.
  
• After Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara hit the screens, Spain became such a popular destination among Indian tourists that the country’s tourism increased by 65%.
  
• However, the other side of the coin is the debilitating effect of massive tourists on preserved ecologies — such as Ladakh, India, or Dubrovnik, Croatia.
  

Though the Indian film industry recorded a gross box-office collection of ₹10,637 crore in 2022, the Hindi film industry struggled. While Telugu and Malayalam movies swept the awards and the audience, Bollywood delivered one dud after another. The year of 2023, however, started with Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan heralding the winds of change.

In less than a week of its release, Pathaan has broken multiple records — and led to 25 single screens reopening in India. Reports state it’s become the fastest Indian film to surpass ₹200 crore in box office collections in four days, beating even KGF 2 (five days) and Baahubali 2 (six days).

However, neither is Pathaan the first film nor is SRK the first actor to leave a massive impact on an industry. Movies have long been impacting consumer choices, from fashion looks to tourism.

From Switzerland to Spain, movies changed the landscape of tourism

Yash Raj Films (YRF) was arguably one of the first Indian production houses to incidentally promote a country through its movies — primarily the snow-clad mountains of Switzerland. YRF’s saree-clad heroines may or may not have enjoyed dancing in the snow. Yet, tourists certainly flocked to the locations with gusto.

The result — Restaurant Bollywood at an elevation of 3,454m at Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. It has become a must-visit attraction for all tourists, especially those from India and Hindi movie lovers.

A report released in 2016 also indicated that in a decade, there was a 400% rise in Indian tourists in Switzerland. They also shell out an average of $330 per person a day, compared to $192 for all tourists.

The trend continued over the years, with popular films becoming mini tourism ads for the place they’re shot in — be it Singapore in Krrish; Corsica in Tamasha; or one of the most popular ones, Spain in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

After Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara hit the screens, Spain became such a popular destination among Indian tourists that a 65% increase in tourism was reported. And the film became a case study for a marketing management course.

Similarly, after the release of Krrish, the number of Indian tourists grew from 6 million to 7 million in Singapore. Closer to home, Goa’s Chapora fort is famously regarded as the ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ fort. Even today, you’ll find tourists recreating the iconic scene from the movie — though it’s been 21 years since the film first released.

“Murder 2 made the Three Kings Feast church in Cansualim famous, and St Jacinto Island’s popular because of John Abraham’s jumping off the bridge sequence in ‘Dhoom’,” shared writer and director Deepak Lobo with Times of India.

The two sides of every coin

If Jab We Met’s Geet popularised the idea of harem pants with tops, Dil Chahta Hai’s Akash made French beards cool. In other words, from fashion trends to tourist spots, the soft power of movies can’t be ignored. But, there’s another side to it!

The massive influence that celebrities and movies hold comes with a price. Like Snapchat experienced in 2018. As per CNN, reality TV star and socialite Kylie Jenner’s tweet, “Does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?” led to the Snap (SNAP) stock falling 6%, which wiped about $1.3 billion off the company's market value.

Ladakh’s Pangong lake became a national attraction after 3 Idiots, with a ‘3 Idiots cafe’ or ‘Rancho cafe’ greeting tourists at every corner. However, the jump in tourists (from 400,000 before the film to 16,00,000 in 2011, after the film) also ruined Ladakh’s ecology — with plastic bottles, chips wrappers, and other garbage.

After the worldwide popularity of the fantasy series Game of Thrones, Dubrovnik in Croatia saw such a rise in tourism that the city proposed limiting the number of tourists to 4,000, lest it loses the UNESCO world heritage title.

As per a case study in Harvard Business Publishing, “The popularity of the television series led to overwhelming tourist traffic in the area. During the peak tourist season, the city now suffered from serious overcrowding. In addition, the city was at risk of losing its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In response, the city had begun to engage in demarketing efforts.”

SEE ALSO:
SRK’s Pathaan sets a new record — over ₹200 crore collections in two days
Percentage of citizens likely to visit cinemas increased by 150%: LocalCircles survey