I personally do not like to watch teasers of Hindi films. Most of them turn out to be bland and pointless marketing exercises. More often than not, the marketing team fails to put together a short video that would not only do justice to the theme of the film but would also get the audience curious about the film. The teaser of ‘Laila Majnu’ which was unveiled a while back managed to do exactly that.
The 57 second long teaser gave one a glance of the world the film is set in and the kind of energy this contemporary version of a classic romantic tale is going to have. Lead actor Avinash Tiwary mouthed few dialogues which reminded one of the kind of illness spoken by the central protagonists in Imtiaz Ali’s films. This time, however, it is not Imtiaz but his younger brother Sajid Ali who is calling the shots. There was a powerful song (“Hafiz Hafiz Ho Gaya Hafiz…”) in the trailer which added to the overall intensity of the visuals.
The trailer, which stands at a little more than two minutes, carries forward the intensity one witnessed in the trailer and gives one a broader idea about the plot of the film. Laila (Tripti Dimri) and Majnu (Avinash Tiwary) are lovers who are caught in the crossfire of violence emerging from the long-standing Kashmir issue. There is another song (“O Meri Laila…”) which sounds lovely and makes one believe that Imtiaz must have helped his brother putting together the music of the film. The two-minute long trailer has many graphs. That, coupled with the pleasant sounding music and the breath-taking visuals of Kashmir, makes one look forward to the film.
Contrary to what most people would think, ‘Laila Majnu’ is not Sajid’s first film. He had earlier directed a film called ‘Banana’ (also called ‘F.L.A.M.E.S) for John Abraham’s production house way back in 2013. Despite being completed, the film could never make it to the theatres. This time, though, he seems to have got unconditional support from Imtiaz and Ekta Kapoor, who have put their weight behind this film. Going by the trailer of ‘Laila Majnu’, one feels Sajid might just have a successful debut to his name.