Released on October 20, Ganapath is a dystopian action film directed by Vikas Bahl and produced by Vashu Bhagnani. The film stars Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon, and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles. Ganapath is set in a dystopian future where a group of rebels are fighting against a totalitarian regime.
The marketing campaign for Ganapath followed the footsteps of many recent Hindi movies; relying on social media, on-ground activities, and targeting its stars’ fanbase. The campaign has highlighted the film's key selling points, such as its high-octane action sequences, dystopian setting, and Tiger Shroff's stunts. The marketing made good use of social media to keep fans engaged and informed.
Character reveal
Announcing the film’s release date, posters of the movie were shared by Shroff and Sanon on their social media. These also revealed their characters’ looks and their personalities.
Teaser announcement
Tiger Shroff took to Instagram to share the release date of the movie's teaser. He shared a special video in which he can be seen talking about the movie while standing atop a tall building in a dystopian setup that mimics the film’s setting.
Teaser
The teaser of the movie created quite a buzz as it was shared in multiple languages. Apart from Hindi, the teaser was released in Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil–all South Indian languages. This was done considering the film’s genre and to tap into the enormous South Indian market where action film’s are popular.
The film's official teaser seemed to be a hit with fans as it started trending at No.1 soon after its release. The teaser gave a glimpse of the film's dystopian setting and its high-octane action sequences. It also introduced Tiger Shroff's character, Ganapath, who is a rebel fighting against the totalitarian regime.
Creating excitement with songs
A poster of the song “Hum Aaye Hain” was shared prior to the release of the song’s teaser announcing its release date. The song’s teaser was released a day prior. The song was released on October 05 and garnered 15 million views on YouTube as of October 23.
The song was leveraged in other ways as Tiger Shroff posted multiple videos with captions that derive from the song’s pick up line “Koi pooche toh batana.”
Soon, people started sharing their own videos dancing on the song’s hook-step.
Other songs from the movie–Sara Zamana and Jai Ganesha–were heavily promoted to build hype.
Behind-the-scenes videos
Tiger Shroff shared a video on his Instagram that showed the first day of rehearsal for the song “Hum Aaye Hain.” In the video, he can be seen practicing with his choreographers and learning the steps.
He also shared a rehearsal video in which he can be seen practicing the hook step with Shahid Kapoor and Varun Dhawan for their performance at Entertainer No.1 held in Doha.
Kriti Sanon also shared exclusive videos from the making of the film.
Along with that, she shared videos wherein she can be seen learning skills like kickboxing, dirt biking, and using nunchucks. She can also be seen learning stunts for the movie and working out in the gym for her role.
These videos helped establish a connection with the audience on a personal level while revealing the amount of work that is put in by the crew and the cast.
On the day of the movie’s release, Sanon and Shroff both shared a special video from the movie’s poster shoot wherein they can be seen posing in multiple ways.
Leveraging cricket fever
The film’s leads appeared on Star Sports during India’s match versus Afghanistan harnessing the Men’s Cricket World Cup’s popularity.
On-ground activities
A promotional event for Ganapath was held in Delhi where the cast interacted with people and danced to the beats of their favorite songs. Kriti Sanon shared pictures on Instagram revealing her outfit and look for the event.
Sanon and Shroff also crashed a Navratri event in Ahmedabad indulging in the festival’s fever and interacting with the audience.
Posters and Cut-outs
A few weeks before the movie’s release, posters along with cut-outs were placed at multiple theaters across India to build anticipation. A video of the same was posted by the film’s production company.
#HumAayeHain creatives
As the song started trending, brands used the catchphrase ‘Hum Aaye Hain’ to jump on the bandwagon sharing creatives featuring the tagline in humorous ways.
AR Filter
The film’s production company Pooja Entertainment shared a video asking people to scan the movie’s poster–which enabled a special message from Tiger Shroff–and share the video with by tagging them along with the hashtag #GanapathKaFilter.
Collaboration with PVR
PVR Cinemas’ social media announced a contest wherein viewers had to answer a question and stand a chance of winning exclusive movie merchandise.
Ganapath is here to unleash power-packed action like no other! 💥👊🏻 Answer a simple question and stand a chance to win exclusive movie merchandise.
— P V R C i n e m a s (@_PVRCinemas) October 19, 2023
Steps:
1: Share your answer in the comments
2: Tag PVR CINEMAS and your friends
3: Tag #GanapathAtPVR contest & follow us
Winners… pic.twitter.com/KTYmJCvO9D
Official trailer
The official trailer was released 10 days prior to the release of the movie. It showcases the film's other characters, including Kriti Sanon's character Jassi, Elli AvrRam’s Rosie and Amitabh Bachchan's character. It also revealed other visual elements of the film.
Harping on star power
Tiger Shroff shared a video in which he is dancing with Janhvi Kapoor on the song “Hum Aaye Hain” which garnered a significant amount of attention.
He also shared a video wherein he is grooving with Ranveer Singh on the hook step of the song.
The marketing for Ganapath has been effective in generating buzz for the film. The campaign has highlighted the film's key selling points and made good use of social media to keep fans engaged and informed. The promotions have been tailored specifically keeping the target audience in mind.
However, so far, the movie has failed to win the audience. According to reports, Ganapath has earned Rs 7 crore net in India in three days.