Aditi Rao Hydari calls for greater focus on storytelling over film promotions

Actress Aditi Rao Hydari believes excessive marketing cannot compensate for poor filmmaking. Comparing filmmaking to cooking, she stressed the importance of good storytelling, creativity and attention to detail, saying well-made films will eventually find their audience

Mumbai: Actress Aditi Rao Hydari, who is awaiting the release of her upcoming film ‘Parivarik ManuRanjan’, has shared her views on the current trends and modern tools of film promotion.

The actress spoke to IANS along with her co-actor Pankaj Tripathi at a five-star property in the Goregaon East area of Mumbai during the film’s promotional activities in the city. She drew parallels between making and promoting a film and cooking food.

---

She said that garnishing alone cannot salvage a badly made recipe. She added that while marketing and promotions can help accentuate the content, makers should focus on telling a good story.

She told IANS, “I have not learnt filmmaking, so pardon me, but I feel that, just as we make food, if we do not put in the right ingredients and do not give that recipe, be it khichdi or biryani, the desired time and attention, then it will not turn out well. You will reject it after a few bites, irrespective of its presentation. The work we do, what we make, is an art form. We are part of an artistic industry. So we should put artistry into our work while making a film.”

She further said, “We love our film, we must love our story, we must love our actors, we must know why we have our actors there and how we are showing them. I feel there were so many visionaries before us who did this. And no matter who said, ‘This won’t work, this will work’, they would go by their conviction. I wish we would still make films like that. I really, really pray and wish for it because I love this field. It’s a very, very beautiful field. And with marketing, if we don’t put love into it, we can’t fix it.”

“First, we have to make it really well, then we have to sell it. You taste it, you love it, you come back for more. A good story will eventually find its audience. Even if a good story doesn’t work at the time of release, it will have a long shelf life,” she added.

Meanwhile, ‘Parivarik ManuRanjan’ is set to premiere on SonyLIV on November 13, 2026.