Imran and Sonam in focus

Debutant director Punit Malhotra is leaving no path unexplored to ensure that his debut film I Hate Luv Storys starring Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor works at the box office. The young director held focus group screenings for various age groups recently to evaluate the end product. He asked for feedback in order to take care of the flaws prior to the release. 

The young director had a discussion with producer Karan Johar, who normally has focus group screenings, and was given the green signal to start this exercise. 

So far there have been five screenings for people of different age groups, varying from 18-25, 25-35, 35-50 and 50 plus years. Punit says, "It is a regular exercise that filmmakers follow. It helps directors understand and get honest feedback from their audience. Each person has an opinion and I am glad everyone was forthcoming with their views and opinions." 

Punit is glad that the movie was appreciated by the motley group. "I will obviously be telling you everything positive," he laughs. When asked if he would be making changes in the film after the feedback, he says, "Well, not really. I got different opinions from individuals but not from groups as a whole. What matters to me is that the movie should be liked overall and the end product was liked by everyone." 

He adds, "It is a simple sweet love story and I have left it in its basic form. I am delivering a love story to my audience with utmost simplicity." 

PAST FOCUS GROUP SCREENING 

• Naseeruddin Shah,Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan starrer Ishqiyawas reshot. The film’s explicit dialogues were objected to by women audiences in a focus group screening, leading wary producers to rework parts of the movie. 

• For 3 Idiots, Aamir called people from different strata and took their reaction. Over a thousand people saw the film and the director had to take a few minor edit calls, but didn't have to reshoot anything. 

• The Mamu song in Munnabhai MBBS was added after the screenings for the focus groups. It was background music at first, but after the focus groups gave their views, Raju Hirani felt the need to insert a song there. 

• Milap Zaveri held two test screenings Jaane Kahaan Se Aayee Hai . 500-odd viewers were picked up from coffee shops and shopping malls and he reshot a few scenes based on the response. The audience loved the camaraderie between Vishal Malhotra and Ritesh Deshmukh. So the director deleted a one-minute scene and added one more scene between the two. 

By TNN.