Why viral dialogues and music are replacing traditional movie marketing
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In an industry long powered by hype, three recent Hindi films are forcing a rethink.Dhurandhar: The Revenge, now the highest grossing Hindi film with domestic collections crossing ₹1,100 crore, along with its predecessor Dhurandhar (Rs. 895 crore) and romantic drama Saiyaara, which made over ₹300 crore last year, have shown that minimal promotions paired with strong content can deliver outsized returns.For years, studios leaned heavily on television, print, outdoor, social media campaigns, influencer collaborations and brand tie-ups to generate pre-release noise.
But in an increasingly cluttered content economy, awareness alone is no longer enough. Films must enter popular discourse — become memes, music loops and everyday references — to sustain momentum.Dhurandhar avoided extensive media interactions, instead letting its mass-market storytelling, retro-style music and punchy dialogues travel across meme pages and fan communities as box office numbers climbed.
Saiyaara leaned on a popular music score and ‘organic-seeming’ fan accounts for its lead pair.“Paid marketing in film will become more selective and less volume-driven. Studios will concentrate their spend on triggering cultural moments early, through storytelling, community building, and creator collaborations that feel native to the platform rather than transactional,” said Rohit Singh, account director, White Rivers Media, the digital marketing agency that worked on Dhurandhar.He added that paid campaigns are losing their ability to rescue weak content.
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