Now showing: the laughter roll

After spoofing personalities and TV shows, MTV puts the spotlight on films.

MTV's Ashish Patil is on a high. The channel has just completed its first ever full-length feature film called Ghoom.

A spoof on Dhoom, the superhit film from Yash Raj Films banner that was released in 2004 starring Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Uday Chopra, Ghoom was completed on a slick start-to-finish schedule a few months ago.

Patil, VP and GM, (creative and content) MTV, is very excited about the first-of-its-kind film and is planning a holistic 360 degree promotion campaign prior to its release in theatres in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and New Delhi.

"INOX Movies that recently released Rang De Basanti will release Ghoom," says Patil.

Coke is the main sponsor of the film and plans to hold a contest where one lucky winner will spend time with actor Aishwarya Rai.

"Besides Coke, Nokia and Parle Hide & Seek have also sponsored the film. What's more, there will be campaigns running on various TV channels," says Patil.

MTV is banking heavily on spoofs after the success of programmes like Pidhu the Great (a spoof on former cricketer and anchor Navjot Singh Sidhu's character) and Semi Girebaal ( a take on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal). And why the quick shift from spoofing personalities and programmes to films? "It was the next logical step for us," he says.

The plot of Ghoom is similar to the original but predictably has a "high dose of humour". Patil is tight-lipped about the costs though he admits: "We have got the best quality production and we shot on a high-end format with the best technicians."

Prod him and he says, "The cost is 100 times more than what we spend on every episode of any of our shows." Our calculation: The basic costs of making a film is upwards of Rs 1 crore and Ghoom has definitely not been made on a lesser budget.

The film will hit the theatres in the first week of June and Patil is confident of audiences queuing up to check out the flick. "The film will be about babes, bikes and bad jokes, MTV style," he quips.

Is he confident of recovering the costs involved in the making of Ghoom? "Absolutely, I'm certain I will not lose money. Besides a theatrical release, MTV will have a world premiere too," he adds.

The film has music by a relatively new music director duo Luv-Kush and there's an item number too. "We have special home videos of songs, making-of-the-film video and the audio will be available for downloads as ringtones," Patil informs.

How has Yash Raj Films reacted? "I had approached them when I started work on the film," says Patil, adding, "Considering a sequel of Dhoom is all set to hit the screens, Ghoom will act as good advertising strategy for them."

Clearly, if people line up, and actually pay to see MTV gags, it will herald a new era for the Indian film industry.