The new artillery of new age movies: Filmy merchandise.

Just as a film enters public imagination so do the clothes that make the film, like the two big Diwali releases.

Om Shanti Om has launched a range of retro fit clothes with mega retailer Shoppers Stop Limited which is a Rs 4 crore deal.

''Om Shanti Om is unique to us because we wanted to bring Bollywood film fashion aspirations to the consumers. And the only way we could have done this is to tie up with an organisation that also believes in quality. And here we found in Farah Khan and Vikram Phadnis a great combination. And when we looked at the line, this also gave us an opportunity of putting a whole range together. Otherwise generally in film merchandising, you can get one shirt or a T-shirt etc. Here you have a whole range of 170 items," said B S Nagesh, Customer Care Associate, MD, Shoppers Stop Limited.

This apart Om Shanti Om has joint ventures with Maybelline, Nokia and Sia Jewellery worth another Rs five crore.

Not to be outdone, Saawariya has lent its clothes and accessories to Pantaloon, which is worth Rs 15 crore.

''We did Krrish with Pantaloon before. Then did Hanuman but they were both character based. Kids toys sold a lot, the mask, the gadda of Hanuman. The difference and challenge here is that it's a love story, boy and girl, so categories wise it's gonna be lots of apparels, clothing, a lot of bed linen, accessories, emphasis on women cosmetics,'' said Navin Shah, CEO, P9 Integrated.

Over and above this, the advertising that Saawariya has managed from tie-ups with Citibank, Reliance Insurance, Xylitol, Airtel and Sony is Rs 10 crore in airtime.

In the words of an actor this is commerce as important as creativity.

''We are confident because huge entities, three of them, Sony Pics, Sanjay Leela Bansali and Future Group, are behind us,'' said Sonam Kapoor, lead actress, Saawariya.

Analysts say the Om Shanti Om and Saawariya goods are just the mega build up of promotion through merchandise that has been around for a few years now.

It was back in 1989 when this Salman Khan cap and jacket became a rage among teenagers. Five years later in 1994, the costumes of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun went under the hammer for fans. And Madhuri's Didi Tera Dewar Deewana saree fetched a whopping Rs 10 lakh.

That was the beginning, over the next years films like Waqt, Hum Saath Saath Hain and Hulchul tied up with top retail designers and released promo clothes lines.

''Priyanka Chopra's outfits in Waqt sold for upto Rs 7,000 each. And for Hulchul, Kareena's outfits of Rs 5,000 each sold more than 2,500 pieces in 60 days," said Sanjay Bindra, Director, BIBA Apparels Limited.

The clothes do well in India but even better in the NRI market, which is tapped through online auctions.

''It adds to their bottom line. These are costly clothes, so they can recover the money apart from the movie and the distribution," said Rajesh Seth, bollywoodauctions.com.

''Bollywood merchandising is becoming important. It has always been important in Hollywood. It is not soft toys that will sell, but garments," said Harish Tibrewal, Owner, homeindia.com.

Soon, Bollywood was to realise that there was big money to be made even in games.

So, Krrish obviously targeting the child market went overboard with T-Shirts, masks, bags, stationary and a whole range of video games. The new Don was smarter, he came in with swish mobile games.

"It's all part and parcel of promoting a film. Merchandise, games, cartoon strips, you have to do all this when a film is being released. And it will continue to be like this," said Shah Rukh Khan, actor.

''It will emerge as the biggest source of revenue as it is in Hollywood right now. We started learning how to merchandise," said Vipul Shah, Director, Waqt.