Last month, the producers of the film Ma Esto Geet Gauchhu surprised Chitwan’s denizens by riding an elephant across the city—a promotional technique that other producers would later come to imitate—drawing in a sizeable crowd of Chitwan’s moviegoers.

“The stint was part of our novel attempt at promotion. Since Chitwan is often characterised by rhinos and elephants, we chose the method to get closer to the audience,” actor Saroj Khanal of the MEGG cast, said. 

Of late, Chitwan has proven to be a veritable ground for film promotion. Whenever the release date of a film nears, the producers carry a banner and come here. 

This year’s Teej also saw a number of film producers using the opportunity to promote 

their films.  But, even though Chitwan has seen an array of novel promotional stints of late, the films however have not been doing well, says senior director Bikash Acharya. 

“The producers these days seem to invest much of their energy in promotion, which is important. But if you haven’t invested as much energy in strenghening the film’s script and its execution, merely riding an elephant won’t ensure that your film will be a success,” Acharya said.