Kalki 2898 AD is one of the most anticipated movies, set for a theatrical release on 27th June 2024.
The marketing of the movie has been both unusual and smart. For the first time ever, a Car was built from scratch for an Indian film. The team’s efforts to establish Bujji as the fourth lead character of the movie have been commendable. Here at OCD Times, we’re breaking down the entire Bujji Marketing Campaign of Kalki 2898 AD and explaining why it was a genius marketing move, along with insights into all the details of the Bujji Pod.
Skratch Series
The journey of Bujji began with the first episode of the Skratch series titled “Re-Inventing the Wheel,” which showcased the making process of the wheel of the Bujji Pod. Sets and props are designed all the time. But building a real car is a whole another level of efforts and commitment.
Everything was planned from the initial days, with behind-the-scenes footage recorded during production, giving due credit and respect to the entire team who worked on creating Bujji.
The Skratch series is a prime example of movie marketing done right! Showing the process of filmmaking happens less and generally after the release. Though these episodes were not direct promos like we usually have, they kept the audience interested and excited for the movie over time.
The Bujji Reveal
With the release of the latest episode of Skratch series, we got an insight into what Bujji actually is. It is an AI with it’s own personality and has been marketed as the fourth lead of the movie. In the same episode it was announced that the body of this AI would be a car which will be first showcased on 22nd May in a big reveal event. This announcement amplified the hype of the movie and comes out as another example of genius marketing.Â
The Bujji Car reveal was a grand event held in Hyderabad which attracted massive crowds. We got the first glimpse of the Bujji Car with Prabhas being inside, driving the advanced vehicle. This too was unexpected for the crowd and garnered a lot of eyeballs. The event too proved to be a massive success for the makers and also contributed towards elevating the buzz of the movie.
Why Are We Calling Them A Creative Genius
Making Bujji A Character
We have seen a lot of AI in movies like Ironman’s Jarvis, Wall-E, and others, but none of them are like Bujji. She is sassy, witty, funny and totally loveable. That small machine which showcases her eyes also makes us believe she is a character.
Solidifying Bujji In Our Minds
The sKratch 4 episode was mostly shot years earllier. Since then they had planned how they were going to use it as a marketing tool. If you observe, the crew members are interacting with Bujji. These are not actors. But lines were written for them and for Bujji, must have rehearsed a bit, then acted and recorded. In the entire episode we can see the crew members having different emotions with Bujji. She even trolled Nag Ashwin on the deadline.
The Big Reveal Event
Events always garner a lot of eyeballs, both online and offline. With Prabhas’ entry, the event was a sure shot success. While such events happen all the time, the building up of the anticipation was the key here. If they were to just have an event and tell us about the car afterwards, it would not have had the same impact.
Choosing To Make A Real Car
They could have easily gone with a CGI car, like it happens almost all the time all over the world. After all, they would have had to apply some form of Vfx on the shots for the movie. But they chose a difficult path. They put in more time, effort and money to create a real car from scratch, and it payed off. Every penny spent on creating Bujji now being utilised as a marketing tool in every possible way.
Bujji’s Social Handles
The team has created Instagram and Twitter accounts by the name ‘Be Like Bujji.’ Here the captions are mostly in first person, giving us a constant reminder that Bujji is a character. Now this has become a meta-augemented reality kind of a thing where we are more in touch with Bujji than any other character of the movie.
Bujji Car Details
| Attribute | Specification |
| Car Name | Bujji Pod |
| Type of Vehicle | Electric |
| Car Weight | 6 tonnes |
| Motor Configuration | Two electric motors |
| Peak Power | 94 kW (combined) |
| Peak Torque | 9800 NM |
| Battery Capacity | 47 KWh |
| Steering | Electro Hydraulic |
| Ground Clearance | 180 mm |
| Manufacturer | Mahindra and JA Motorsports |
| Tyres by | CEAT |
| Tyre Dimensions | 6075 mm x 3380 mm x 2186 mm |
| Tyre Type | Hubless, run on bearings set on the rim |
| Rim Material | Aluminium alloy and imported materials |
| Rim Mounting | Mounted onto taper roller bearing, which are mounted onto the hollow hubs |
| Rim Size (Front Tyres) | 34.5 inch |
Bujji City Tour
The efforts of the team towards the marketing of Bujji remain relentless as they have organised a city tour as well wherein the Bujji Pod will be seen travelling to various cities throughout the country for people to see them in person. This is another example of good marketing as when the people who have never heard about such vehicle will see it for the first time in person will get curious to know more about it. This will automatically introduce them to the movie that is releasing for which it has been built from scratch.
Similar trend was observed with Animal as well when the War Machine Gun was revealed. The people got curious and were wanting to take photos with the gun which again helped towards boosting the movie’s hype. In today’s times, when majority of the things which are done through CGI and VFX, the efforts of filmmakers who want to provide the best possible experience to the audience must be acknowledged as well as appreciated.
Bujji & Bhairava Prelude
Extending the Bujji campaign, makers also released a two episode animated prelude on Amazon Prime Video titled B&B: Bujji and Bhairava, which gave us an insight to the fun camaraderie between Bujji and Bhairava. The episodes were well written and showed us how Bhairava met Bujji and the making process of the Bujji Pod in the Kalki universe.
Besides, we also got an overview of the world of Kalki 2898 AD. The movie will be largely set in ‘Kasi’ and the currency used is called ‘Units’ and the currency transfer is done digitally through bands. The personality traits of both Bujji and Bhairava were very well established as well. To know more, we highly recommend you to check out both the episodes of the prelude before watching the movie as it is canon to the movie and the Kalki Cinematic Universe has also been announced through them.
Other Notable Marketing Moves
Other than the above mentioned moves, there were other smart marketing techniques which were adapted for Kalki 2898 AD.
India’s first F1 Driver N.Karthikeyan was invited to get a first hand experience of Bujji Pod which created buzz among the F1 audience.
The popular automobile youtube channel AutoCar India along-with other media portals were invited to cover the Bujji Pod and review it, making their viewers aware of it’s existence and the reason behind it. This again would make a different section of audience aware about Kalki 2898 AD.
Lastly, the director of the movie Nag Ashwin has invited the CEO of Tesla and X Elon Musk to try out the Bujji Pod. Although, there have not been any major developments regarding the same but it again shows the seriousness of the makers and their confidence towards their product.
In the end, we can conclude that the entire Bujji Marketing Campaign of Kalki 2898 AD was a massive success for the makers. The efforts put in by the entire crew did not go into vain and audiences are eagerly waiting to see as to what the movie has to offer.
The trailer is coming out on 10 June 2024.
Do let us know your expectations and excitement towards Kalki 2898 AD in the comments!
Also check out – De-aging in Bollywood Ft. Amitabh Bachchan in Kalki 2898 AD
Stay tuned to OCD Times for more updates. Do check out our other social accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
eek
