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Kuselan
Fantasies - Kuselan Launch & Slogan Contest
29 July 2008
Huh…. What a week it was !
I’ve never been this busy and excited even when Sivaji
was released. I was in India that time and also enjoyed
my time with my fellow fanatics, but this time it was
even better. I never really thought that I would get an
opportunity to organize promotional events on my own.
It’s quite an interesting story though.
Sampath, my co-fanatic was asking me about organizing
something here, but both of us were not sure about what
exactly can be done. When ‘Kuselan’ audio CD was
released, I was pretty excited and wanted to grab a copy
of it immediately. When I learnt that the only way to
get it is to order it online, I couldn’t wait for the
shipping time. So, I decided to call them and check the
ways of getting it much sooner. This is how Jayavel
Murugan, the US distributor for Kuselan got in touch
with me. It was a casual chat and he asked me whether I
would be interested in organizing events, for which I
said YES even before he completed the question.
I was introduced to Mahesh Srinivasan, the joint
distributor for Kuselan in the bay area. He wanted to
meet me and know about my ideas. I did not have anything
in mind until then, but as I sensed that it’s going to
be bigger, I started doing my homework. I went to
“Tirupathi Bhimas”, a famous restaurant in the bay area
to meet Mahesh during lunch break and proposed my idea
of conducting a “Kuselan friendship slogan contest”,
since the movie is about friendship. As soon as I
proposed my plan of action, the sponsors happily agreed
to sponsor the entire event.
I designed the slogan slip for the contest and also the
design of the customized Kuselan T.Shirt. The sponsors
got them printed.
The Organizers
: (From Left) Mahesh Srinivasan, ME and
Venkatesh Gananathan
Backside of the T.Shirt
The Ultimate Day
It was all set for the Kuselan pre-release
launch. I was pretty excited about the
pre-release launch but at the same time, a
little worried since I was a bit doubtful about
the response. I got there early along with my
friend Venkatesh and started making the
arrangements for the event. The slogan contest
counter was set up, posters were in place,
slideshow was ready, but there was something
missing. Aaahhh….. Gotcha! Thalaivar’s huge 25
feet vinyl hoarding that came from India needed
to be put on display. It was really tough as we
had to suspend it from the top, as we could not
provide any cardboard for support. Moreover, the
building was not tall enough and as a result, we
had to leave some part of it in the ground. But,
once the hoarding setup was done, it seemed to
be all set for a swift take off.
Me getting the projector ready for the
slideshow....
25 feet
Vinyl hoarding
We started explaining the event to one
person and then it just spread like
forest fire. We didn’t have to do the
explanations thereafter. My job was
reduced to just judging the best slogans
and the other organizers helped me with
it. But it was really tough to pause the
event for a while and choose the winners
for that hour. The kids were enjoying
the exclusive
Super Star m&m candies. The best
part is, people waited to know the
results, even after they were done with
their dinner.
The toughest
job - Selecting the winning slogan
Besides the Ist prize of $20 gift voucher and II
nd prize of Kuselan audio CD, the winning
slogans were published in
rajinifans.com. We also intimated the
winners via email, so that they can ask their
friends to see their slogan and probably the
best chance to show them how special they are to
them!
It was a fun
filled two days and as per the “Super Star
Theory”, the event was a massive hit. For
those who were wondering what is the theory
all about, its very simple – “Any damn thing
associated with Super Star is a HIT”
People were really very happy and took part
in the competition with the elated spirit.
Since this kind of a promo event is first of
its kind for any Indian movie, am satisfied
that I could do something for my thalaivar’s
movie.
Gowri Shankar
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