Movie posters of Bollywood remakes: A semiotic analysis

Abstract

Today, films have become a huge part of the lives of people across the world. Their popularity has peaked over time despite competitions from other sources of entertainment. As a powerful visual element, posters play a key role in promoting a film’s theme and narrative. They are also an important tool for promoting the film. While film posters act as a medium for advertising the film for the audience and for the film companies, they are a medium that arouses curiosity and attracts the audience to the theatres This research aims at comparing the content, design, typography, colour, socio-cultural norms and the symbolic, written and technical elements of the posters of both the original and remake film in the Indian film industry. The research has been conducted for six months’ period through qualitative analysis of Indian film posters. Films from Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and others which cater to the audience who follow different social and cultural norms are analysed through this research. Other elements of visual languages that include colour and typography that enhances subtle meanings in the posters are also analysed in this research.