Ranbir Kapoor is going South to ensure Brahmastra is a hit. But will it work?

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's long-pending film Brahmastra is all set to hit the theatres on September 9. The actor kickstarted the promotions from Visakhapatnam with SS Rajamouli. And that's a clear statement right there.

In the past few months, South films have dominated the box office and how! It is safe to say that Allu Arjun's Pushpa: The Rise, Jr NTR-Ram Charan's RRR and Yash's KGF: Chapter 2 basically just rewrote history. All three films, coming from the South, managed to impress the audience across India. More importantly, these films appealed to the North belt, which is usually dominated by Bollywood films. Clearly, that's not the case anymore.

While films like RRR and KGF 2 are sitting at over Rs 1,200 crore, Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, the only successful Bollywood venture this quarter, is celebrating crossing the Rs 100-crore threshold. Look at the difference! Let's face it, it has been quite a while since Bollywood films took over the box office.

So, Bollywood pins its hopes on Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's Brahmastra, which is all set to hit the theatres on September 9. And if the initial promotion strategy is anything to go by, looks like Ranbir Kapoor is going South with Brahmastra.

Be it RRR or KGF 2, a massive chunk of money was set aside for all-India promotions, because SS Rajamouli and Yash believed that their films have the elements to be projected as a pan-India flick. To tap into that, they toured across India to promote their respective films. And in hindsight, the promotions did work and the box office numbers are proof.

Now, Ranbir Kapoor has taken note of it and wants to employ the same strategy to take Brahmastra to a regional audience. Team Brahmastra commenced the promotions in Visakhapatnam and guess who joined them - it is SS Rajamouli. For the unversed, SS Rajamouli will present Brahmastra in four southern languages - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

Ranbir, Ayan Mukerji, director, and SS Rajamouli were welcomed by fans with garlands and showered with flower petals. However, Alia Bhatt gave the event a miss as she is shooting for her Hollywood debut flick, Heart of Stone.

With SS Rajamouli on board, Brahmastra could get maximum visibility across the country, especially down South. He has a tried-and-tested format when it comes to promoting films. Ranbir and Ayan ought to take inputs from the master himself in marketing their pet project, one that's been in the making for nearly six years, if they want it to have even a fighting chance at the box office.