Inside YRF’s 'Less Is More' Playbook: How the Studio Has Redefined Bollywood Promotions with 'War 2' and 'Saiyaara'

The promotional strategy of Yash Raj Films (YRF) has become “less is more”. From the absence of pre-release interviews for YRF’s tentpole action films like Pathaan (2023) and Tiger 3 (2023), to keeping the lead pair of this year’s blockbuster romantic drama Saiyaara—starring two debutantes—in the shadows of the spotlight before and after release, this strategy has become gospel at the studio.

A still from 'Saiyaara'

But this wasn’t always the case. For Dhoom 3 (2013), they launched a game based on the film, set against the backdrop of Chicago, sending its lead star Aamir Khan on Kaun Banega Crorepati. They even collaborated with Mattel—a first for Hindi cinema—to launch a line of toys. For Dhoom 2 (2006), Coca-Cola launched a campaign titled “Coke Uthale, Dhoom Machale” and clothing brand Pepe Jeans collaborated with the film to release a range of themed apparel including T-shirts, jeans, caps, and accessories. Saif Ali Khan made an appearance on the television series Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin to introduce people to his character Karan in Hum Tum (2004). Cartoon strips based on the film’s animated characters were featured in the Bombay Times, while the stars of Bunty aur Bubbly (2005), Rani Mukerji and Abhishek Bachchan, anchored on a news channel.

What changed seems to be the arrival of social media. “From the way YRF markets its films, and even its talents, it is clear they believe that social media is the death of stardom. That is why you don’t see a Sharvari or an Ayushmann Khurrana out there,” an industry insider tells The Hollywood Reporter India. 

They are trying to preserve stardom because “no matter what you do, the film persona can never be matched by a real persona”. Not only do they not let their actors run wild during the promotional period, they do not even allow vloggers to do trailer reactions on YouTube, striking down those videos for copyright infringement. “They don’t want to be dependent on any other medium or platform to drive their promotion,” the source notes.

YRF believes in the old school adage that film is an aspirational medium, and every time you are seen in public, this aspirational quality recedes. “Why would someone pay ₹300 to watch Sharvari if they can watch her regularly on Instagram?” an anonymous source notes. “Actors need to be better than the audience—if they are seen as like them or worse than them, why would anyone pay for a ticket?”

There is a psychological shift today in the way people respond to cinema. “One of the reasons Saiyaara worked was the sense of a generation feeling like they discovered their star, and having discovered they want to endorse that star—that is the euphoria,” the source notes. This becomes possible only if the actors are not allowed to burn in the spotlight before they are seen on the big screen. 

Besides, it is also cheaper. By not doing promotions for Pathaan (2023)—a film they were leaning heavily on given the spate of flops prior to its release—they allegedly saved between 15-20 crores. 

Shah Rukh Khan in 'Pathaan'

Every gospel, though, has its own reckoning, and YRF had to tweak this strategy for their upcoming release War 2, starring Hrithik Roshan and Junior NTR. For War (2019), they did no pre-release interviews for they wanted the audience to see the camaraderie between the two male leads for the first time on the big screen. “They are building a narrative of ‘Versus’, which would get compromised if you show the actors together, being courteous to each other doing interviews,” the source notes. 

With War 2, this strategy felt inadequate because Junior NTR’s Telugu film fandom was used to a certain decibel of pre-release chatter. To avoid “sentiment crisis”—where fans become convinced that Junior NTR is not promoting the film because it is bad—YRF organised a pre-release event in Hyderabad where the actors affirmed their faith in the film. No such event was planned for North India. “Ideally they should have been seen together for the first time on screen,” the source notes. 

Even so, YRF refused to release the full “dance-off” song between the two leads, only putting out a small teaser. A similar strategy was done with Thugs of Hindustan, keeping Katrina Kaif’s ‘Suraiyya’ under wraps—where it worked, giving the film a big opening—and Shamshera’s ‘Kaale Naina’—where it didn’t translate to opening-day numbers. 

Film promotions, though data driven, is not a perfect science. “It is like playing blind on a poker table. It is only when the advance booking numbers come in that we know if the promotional strategy has worked or not, and by then it is too late to course correct,” a source tells THR India.