With a Rs. 250-crore budget, three big stars, and foot-tapping music, everyone expected the makers of Pathaan to go all out marketing it. But barring some old-school repartee on #AskSRK, the film’s lead Shah Rukh Khan’s Twitter, the film remarkably opted for no promotions.

The action-thriller’s mammoth numbers (Rs. 850 crores worldwide), however, haven’t deterred makers of upcoming biggies Selfiee and Shehzada from taking the all-out route with promotions. While actor Kartik Aaryan is on a multi-city tour for the latter, Selfiee makers have been holding trailer and song launches with much fanfare.

This has inevitably plunged makers and experts in the debate — promotions or no promotions? Varun Gupta, the man behind the marketing for Selfiee, Drishyam 2, and Ram Charan and Jr NTR’s next, says it is “stupid” to blindly follow Pathaan’s example. “An actor just asked me a few days back that if Pathaan is not doing anything, why should we? I just feel helpless trying to explain that it is not a film that you can measure with any other lens. It’s the return of brand SRK on the big screen after four years, nobody else can match that. Marketing tactics will keep evolving, but they will never go out of fashion,” says Gupta.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh, however, feels that no promotions is the way forward, because eventually, it’s content that does the talking. “Drishyam 2 didn’t do any city tours, no mall visits. Promotions and tours only add to the cost of the film. Devote time to social media and do your promotions there. Avoid lavish expenses and controversial comments before release,” he opines.

Uunchai, Ram Setu and Good Luck Jerry (all 2022) co-producer Mahaveer Jain weighs in: “If the trailer of a film hits the ball out of the park, it’s the biggest resource for any film. The same applies to songs. Now, if the makers feel that multi-city tours and promotions are required to reach the audience and create awareness, they must go ahead with it.”

And who says promotions can only be done before release? Makers of Pathaan recently also slashed ticket prices by 25%, which, Jain feels, “will help add a whole new section of an audience for the film”. Gupta agrees, calling it an excellent promotional tactic on their part.