Excel Entertainment’s upcoming film, Phone Bhoot is not a horror comedy, but rather a comedy of horrors. The filmmakers created a whole new genre for a unique movie plot, packed with adventure, pop culture, and a quirky world filled with ghosts and gags.
For the promotional campaign, the marketing team did something as eccentric and bizarre as the film itself; they brought to life the business venture started by the characters in the film, i.e a ghost capturing service.
‘Kya aap bhoot pret se pareshaan hai? Call Phonebhoot Now!’ is the tagline for the missed call campaign, accompanied by some hilarious parody commercials, directed by Pooja Shetty & Neil Pagedar, and written by Puneet Chadha and Vishal Dayama, who are managed by OML Entertainment Pvt Ltd.
Re-imaging horror movies
The campaign captures the humorous tone and offbeat character of the film.
The film follows the story of two jobless horror-film addicts played by Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter, and one ghost played by Katrina Kaif, and their bizarre business idea of starting a ghost capturing service called Phone Bhoot.
Excel Entertainment conceptualised an idea that made the movie more exciting and exhilarating for the audience: imagine if such a ghost capturing venture actually existed today!
Thus, by encouraging people to give a ‘missed call’ to the given number, the campaign successfully added a sense of realism (and a tad bit of spookiness) to the movie.
Rhea Wagh, Marketing Lead, said : “The idea was to come up with a digital campaign as bizarre as the world of the film, while giving it a spin with parody commercials & the IVR campaign – the main hook resonating with the business venture the characters actually start in the film ‘kya aap bhoot pret se pareshaan hai? Call Phonebhoot now!’ This film is not a horror comedy – it’s a comedy of horrors! A crazy fun adventure that takes pop culture and film situations and turns them on its head to create a quirky world of ghosts and gags.”
The battle between good versus evil
The tone of the film is interactive, with the characters breaking the fourth wall and immersing the audience in banter and adventure. But at its core, the Phone Booth is a story that champions good over evil.
Directed by Gurmmeet Singh, produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, and written by Ravi Shankaran and Jasvinder Singh, the much-awaited film is releasing in cinemas on the 4th of November, 2022!
See you at the movies! 👻