It is believed since nearly two decades that making a movie isn’t enough for its main cast and makers. They are then required to go on another painstaking path of promoting their film. This is done in the form of teaser and trailer launch events, media interviews, podcasts, appearing on famous television shows, showing up in malls or any other places where a large group of their prospective audience is present, etc.
However, in today’s day and age, it is questionable whether these promotional activities serve much purpose. This was felt the most recently when two big films – Awarapan 2 and Batwara 1947 – released on the same day and had opposite results at the box office.
The cast of Batwara 1947 went all out with promotions. They had a trailer launch at the iconic single screen theatre Raj Mandir in Jaipur. The team also launched their film’s trailer in Mumbai. The film’s cast Sunny Deol, Karan Deol and Preity G Zinta also went on city tours to generate interest for their film. In fact, on one instance, they covered three cities – Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Amritsar – in a single day itself. If this wasn’t enough, they also met Partition survivors since Batwara 1947 is based on that incident.
The result? Batwara 1947 managed an opening of only Rs. 5.52 crores. This is a low number for any big budget film with known stars. Later, the fact that the content received a mixed response didn’t help the film’s cause either.
The reason for this is simple. We have reached a stage where a film’s promotional material in the form of its teaser, trailer and song promos decides whether it will open on a good note. If the film’s assets generate excitement, you don’t need promotional activities. The trailer of Batwara 1947 hadn’t generated much excitement. Hence, the intense promotional activities turned out to be of little use.
On the other hand, there was tremendous pre-release excitement for Awarapan 2. The film is a sequel to the much-loved Awarapan, which, although didn’t do well when it released in 2007, generated a cult following in the years to follow. More importantly, its two songs ‘Toh Phir Aao’ and ‘Tera Mera Rishta Purana’ have been loved over the years. Due to this, despite the team of Awarapan 2 not carrying out extensive promotions, it took a massive opening of almost Rs. 22 crores.
Of course, whether a film performs well after the opening day depends purely on its content. But the initial opening is nowadays determined only through the promotional material, especially the trailer.
A major example of this is also Yash Raj Films’ Saiyaara. The film’s songs became a rage among the youth much before the trailer came out. Its newcomer lead pair of Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda also acquired a fan following. And once the trailer came out, the interest level for the film increased further. This was enough for the film to open with a banger number of Rs. 22 crores and finish at a mammoth score of over Rs. 330 crores. A film with two debutants earning this much was not expected by anyone, including the trade.
Interestingly, the makers of Saiyaara didn’t carry out a single promotional activity, including a trailer or song launch. Ahaan, Aneet or anyone associated with the film didn’t give interviews or appeared on podcasts. This proves that if your pre-release assets have been largely accepted, you need no publicity events.
Another shining example is that of Dhurandhar duology. The first film, released in December 2025, only had a trailer and music launch. The team didn’t promote the film elsewhere or gave interviews. We all know what it did at the box office. And since the first movie had generated such unprecedented craze, its sequel Dhurandhar The Revenge, which released in March this year, didn’t need any promotion. The masses were literally counting days of its release, thereby indicating that pre-release excitement isn’t determined by promotions.
This year has seen more such examples. The makers of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai went all out with promotions and interviews. But as the film’s trailer and songs couldn’t generate excitement, it didn’t open well and ultimately didn’t have a smooth box office journey. There have been other such examples in 2026 in the form of Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos, Tu Yaa Main, Ek Din, Pati Patni Aur Woh Do, etc. These films were highly promoted but didn’t open well.
At the same time, the makers of a small film like Haunted 3D: Echoes Of The Past hardly carried out any promotional activity but it turned out to be a surprise winner at the box office purely because of the franchise value and the horror element. In other words, there was pre-release interest for the film.
All this also substantiates that the audience’s demands have increased in today’s times. Merely getting a chance to watch big stars on the big screen isn’t enough for them to queue up for a film. It is more important for the movie to generate interest for them pre-release. And no, just because a large number of people turn up at a mall to attend a film’s promotional activity doesn’t necessarily mean that they will also watch your film in theatres.
As the veteran trade analyst Taran Adarsh summed up in an interview with Rohit Khilnani last year, “Agar free mein celebrities dekhne mil rahe hain toh kaun nahin dekhega?” We recently saw large gatherings during Batwara 1947 city tours and we know what happened after that.
Only time will tell whether the recent results will prompt the industry to re-think the whole idea of film promotions.
Also Read: Awarapan 2 Box Office: Emraan Hashmi starrer surpasses Welcome To The Jungle, becomes 5th highest grosser of 2026
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