'Dhurandhar' marketer reveals why they didn't promote first film; says, 'Never tried to oversell through item song, patriotism'

Aditya Dhar's directorial, 'Dhurandhar', went on to become a massive hit at the box office. The film earned over Rs 1300 crore at the box office worldwide. One thing to notice was that the movie made such huge numbers even though the makers didn't promote the film at all. There was no buzz around the movie before its release in theaters. Now, the person who handled the marketing of the film shared that it was a conscious decision to go for no promotion strategy. Let's learn more about it.In an interview with the Hindustan Times, the film's marketer, Varun Gupta, opened up about why they decided to go for no promotions strategy for 'Dhurandhar'. He shared that even for the first installment, "We didn’t go overboard with anything. In fact, we were underplaying." Varun shared that he was constantly getting questioned on why there were no promotions of the film. He added that not all movies require their actors to go and visit colleges and cities for interviews. He said, "Now that we have seen the film, you know it. What Q&A could Ranveer Singh do for the film?"The marketer further stated that 'Dhurandhar' required a different approach to reach the audience. He explained that they wanted to keep it "content first" and nothing gimmicky.Varun Gupta said, "If you like what you see, you will watch the film. We never tried to oversell it through action scenes, an item song, and patriotism. It had everything, but we didn’t sell any of it. We just stayed true to what we can expect from it."The Aditya Dhar-directed film featured Ranveer Singh as Hamza Ali Mazari, an Indian spy who infiltrates the terror group of Lyari Town in Pakistan. The movie also featured Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun. It was released in theaters on December 5, 2025.