Introduced in the 1980s, the concept of Brand Positioning has gained prominence over the years in almost every industry. This article focuses on how this strategy and its principles apply to the Hindi film industry as well. It also discusses how Bollywood actors have over the years created unique images for themselves and have emerged successful by appropriately positioning themselves.

In this era of cut-throat competition, it is very important for a brand to create a distinct and unique image for itself in the minds of the customers in order to survive and grow in the marketplace. One means to achieve this objective is through `Brand Positioning'a concept pioneered by Al Ries and Jack Trout. Even in the Hindi film industry, this concept is very popular. Directors choose their actors and actresses depending on the image of the latter in the minds of the viewers. Amitabh Bachchan, developed an image as the angry young man in the 1980s, who suffered due to the evils of the society and indefatigably fought against the villains and finally won. While Dilip Kumar was considered as the `tragedy king', Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand of the same era were considered very romantic and joyful heroes who represented the happy shade of life in their movies and provided complete delight to the movie lovers.

The concept of brand positioning calls for becoming the first mover and pioneer brand in any attribute in any chosen customer segment. When there is a vacant slot in a particular attribute, anything new will easily get noticed. Amitabh Bachchan got success with the positioning as the angry young man as he was the first mover in that segment. He consistently maintained this image in many movies, like Deewaar, Shakti, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Sholay. It helped him to win the competition from other talented stars, like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jeetendra and many others of that era, in that particular segment. It also forced these other `brands' to create their own image in various categories. Dharmendra also used the positioning strategy by playing the role of action hero in many movies and established himself as a successful brand in the action hero category and snatched that position from Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha and Dara Singh. He invented the brand `He-Man' in the action hero category and always stood as the first choice for the action hero segment. Legendary actor Raaj Kumar successfully positioned himself in the dialog delivery segment and was immensely popular among the audiences who loved `filmy' dialogs. Thus, the positioning strategy of being a pioneer has helped many actors to get through the tough competition in Bollywood and has made them iconic players in the Indian film industry.

For many years, Jeetendra was popular as a dancing hero as he was the first one to draw the path. During the 1980s, Mithun Chakraborty became successful in differentiating himself as a dancing king. In the new millennium, another dancing star, Hrithik Roshan, attacked the screen with his debut film Kaho Na Pyaar Hai in 2001. He also added the flavor of a fresh brand from a not so much recognized Bollywood Roshan family. He offered features of a robust physique and handsome personality which attracted the college goers, who were the early admirers of the brand Hrithik.

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