MUMBAI: The Fukra boys Hunny, Choocha, Zafar and Lali get on with their lives after successfully getting Bholi Punjaban arrested. But they are in for a shock when she returns early from prison and tries to seek revenge. The second installment of the Fukrey franchise, Fukrey Returns which earned over 100 crores at the box office is all set for its World TV Premiere on Zee Cinema, Home of Blockbusters on Sunday, 1st April at 8 PM. Zee Cinema with its proposition Movies Masti Magic undertook a series of innovative marketing initiatives to promote the movie. To take the audience on a laughter riot and ensure that their day is packed with fun and entertainment, Zee Cinema, has declared Sunday, April 1 as 'Fukra’s Day' instead of Fool’s Day! #1stAprilFukraDay.
Richa Chadda a.k.a Bholi Punjaban and Varun Sharma a.k.a Choocha visited the capital where the movie was shot and made an appearance at the Delhi Zoo to celebrate Bijli ka birthday. Bijli, is the same tiger in the film who helps the Fukrey gang find treasure worth 10 crores! Zee Cinema has also collaborated with Icekraft, an ice-cream café and has come with customized offerings of ice-creams and state of the art coffee froth printing of Fukrey characters. The coffee froth printing is one of its kind and Zee Cinema and Icekraft are the flag bearers in kick starting this innovative offering for coffee lovers. This activity will be carried out across India in multiple outlets.
The marketing blitzkrieg spills over to the digital media as well with the channel putting forth engaging social media activities. With the hashtag #1stAprilFukraDay, several quirky and engaging contests will be carried out on social media platforms inviting people to share their jugaad stories and people with the most unique and fun stories will be certified as You Are A Fukra! With the hashtag #AskChoocha, audiences’ favourite character of the Fukrey franchise, Choocha (Varun Sharma) took over Zee Cinema’s social media handles on 26th March and predicted the future of his fans. Choocha also answered questions by his fans and the lucky winners had a chance to interact with him on Twitter. On Facebook, Zee Cinema has created a special Fukrey Returns selfie frame where people will be encouraged to share their Fukra Gang selfies and several quirky one’s will be rewarded with Fukrey Returns merchandise. Additionally, the Fukrey gang also created special and eccentric jingles which will be played as announcements inside Mumbai Metro to spread the word on the date for the World TV Premiere of the movie.
That’s not all! Zee Cinema has also adopted a 360 degree marketing approach including TV, Print and Outdoor Media amongst other mediums to entertain viewers across all platforms to build the premiere on the channel.
Speaking about the success of the franchise, producer Ritesh Sidhwani, Excel Entertainment said, “Fukrey Returns received immense love & appreciation and fans of this franchise ensured in making it a huge success. This comedy genre reached out to family audiences as a wholesome entertainer. Zee Cinema has done a great job in promoting the Worldwide Television Premiere of the film in an innovative manner.”
Speaking about the same, Ruchir Tiwari, Business Head, Zee Hindi Movies Cluster said, “Fukrey Returns is the first of the numerous blockbusters that will be premiered on Zee Cinema in the new financial year. Television is a strong medium to build the fan base and legacy of any franchise. With the premiere of Fukrey Returns on Zee Cinema, the successful Fukrey franchise will definitely reach greater heights.”
Fukrey Returns begins a year later from where the first part ended. Bholi Punjaban (Richa Chadda) manages to come out of jail early but has to pay a price for the same. Since Bholi has to settle scores with the four Fukreys viz. Hunny (Pulkit Samrat), Choocha (Varun Sharma), Lali (Manjot Singh) and Zafar (Ali Fazal), she contacts them forthwith and asks them to think up a scheme to amass the crores required.
