Bollywood has moved on from selling mere fantasies to soul-strained, mind-drained audiences. National and international brands are tapping into the large consumer base available to them via the silver screen medium — be it high profile actors or highly hyped films. The latest to hit the track is Ram Gopal Varma's Road, which is riding high on the recent Tata Safari promo. This after the high profile biker's rally that was co-sponsored by Ram Gopal Varma Productions.

"The tie-up between the film and the brand was envisaged by Ram Gopal Varma Productions and the entire scripting for the promo was done by them," says Sharmila Malekar, Management Supervisor, Client Servicing at Ogilvy and Mather, the agency which handles the brand's advertising. Apart from Safari, which is used for the 30-second promo, Tata Sumo is also featured in the film. "This is the most unconventional route that Tata Safari could have taken in an off-the-cuff film like Road, though it's not being used as a prop as in other films," adds Malekar.

Yes, we've seen those memorable props being stuffed down our throats. Cut to Yaadein, which screamed Coca Cola and Pass Pass mouth freshener. Of course, Hrithik cruising down on Hero Cycles was as gauche as it could get. But that's not to say there's been a lack of sleek promos. While Mc Dowell's went online on the Devdas website, Kaante had one right out of the film, bombastic soundtrack et al. It spoke about 'Telling the boys from the men', with the action film's big guns Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Lucky Ali, Mahesh Manjrekar and Kumar Gaurav doing the tough act with Thums Up bottles in hands.

Full points for sleek editing, but that's the least one can expect when a multi-crore deal is signed. Though the thunder didn't raise as much as a pip-squeak when the Raju Chacha deal was signed. Let's just watch out whether this road is full of roses for Tata Safari. Only sales will tell.