Neither much nor less is the requirement. However, the scenario is mostly different, with teams promising much and delivering less, leading to disappointment among the audience and the film’s failure. There are different kind of expectation scenarios created by a film crew: 

Several small budget films come under this scenario. They neither promise much nor promote their films much, and hence expectations are usually low. Often, these films also deliver less in terms of quality and hence vanish within a short span of the theatrical release. These films just add numbers to Tamil cinema and don’t make any difference.

These are surprise packages which happen at times. Many small and medium budget films promote and promise less, and hence expectations are kept low or medium by the audience. However, after release, the content speaks and surprises the audience with their quality. Recent examples can be Kaatrin Mozhi, Thadam, Kolaigaran, 100 the Movie, Dhillukku Thuttu 2, A1, Nedunalvadai and Jiivi.

Many big budget films promise big, create high expectations but deliver less to the audience. The audience then feel cheated as they would have expected high quality content from such films. When they fail, the box office result is no ordinary failure but a colossal one.  It happened with many big budget films, including a couple of films the author was associated with. The lesson learnt was when you are not sure of the output (film), lower the promise, create low or medium expectations and when such films do not appeal to the audience, they will not face so much backlash as the team has not over-promised. The film’s marketing team assumes that the content team (including director) would deliver as promised. However, when they fail, the marketing team faces the challenge of reducing the impact of backlash for such films. This is being experienced currently by another high budget film in Indian cinema, which had high expectation among the audience for its star cast and budget, but failed in its delivery with poor content.

This is a good scenario where the team knows what their content can deliver and promise accordingly, create the right expectations and meets the expectations of the audience. Recently, it happened to films like Petta, Super Deluxe, Kanchana 3 and Nerkonda Paarvai. As these films met audience expectations, they turned out to be hits at the box office. 

This is the best case scenario where the team promises much, creates huge expectations and the final content also exceeds the expectations of the audience, which leads to films becoming blockbusters with repeat audience and good word-of-mouth publicity. Some recent examples are Viswasam, LKG and Comali.

Post social media revolution (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube), most audience members have turned reviewers, posting their views immediately after watching the films. This is the reason why today there are more than 500 YouTube channels reviewing films, in addition to thousands of dedicated Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts. Producers and filmmakers must remember that the audience turn up on the first day of release at theatres based on expectations created or promises made by the film’s team. Hence, it is the team’s responsibility to create the right expectations and deliver the right content satisfying their expectations. Mostly, it will be helpful if the team ‘under-promises’ and ‘over-delivers’ so that the audience become delighted by such films. Contrarily, if the film promises high but delivers low, the result will be the worst scenario.

 

While it may not be possible to understand the true potential of a film much in advance, at least after watching the first copy of the film, the marketing team must decide on whether to increase or lower the buzz to set the right expectations among the audience. Audience at theatres is based on one’s promise on the content and if satisfied, they would tell many. If dissatisfied, they may kill the film through reviews. Be aware, be prepared and deliver what you promise or don’t promise anything!