Rajamouli’s Hollywood Model For Varanasi: Big Risk?

It is already on the Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu are collaborating for Varanasi, which is preparing for release in April next year. But the discussion is about the Hollywood model that Rajamouli is reportedly, considering for the marketing of Varanasi, which could be a big risk.

In Hollywood, marketing has evolved into a massive engine that often matches or even surpasses the actual cost of making a film. For big budget projects, studios routinely spend anywhere between 50 percent to 100 percent of the production budget purely on promotions.

This money goes into global advertising campaigns, television spots, digital marketing, social media trends, influencer tie ups, outdoor publicity, and star driven media tours across continents. The idea is simple. In a crowded entertainment space, visibility decides opening weekend numbers.

A recent and much discussed example is Oppenheimer and Barbie. Both films were backed by aggressive and innovative marketing strategies that dominated global pop culture conversations for weeks.

This global trend is now slowly influencing Indian cinema as well. Big scale projects are realizing that content alone is not enough without strong promotion. The upcoming film Varanasi is rumoured to be spending over 75 crore on worldwide promotions. If true, it signals a clear shift in mindset. Producers seem ready to invest heavily in marketing to ensure strong reach, hype, and recall even before the film hits theatres.

But considering the massive investment of ₹75 crore which is enough to produce many films let alone promoting a film like Varanasi is a huge financial gamble. But it appears that Rajamouli is preparing for the same as he wants to market this film on Hollywood level.