NEW DELHI : Camera-first social networking app Snapchat is leaning on India’s regional film industries, enlisting local celebrities to share movie updates and behind-the-scenes content, to engage Gen Z tier-II and tier-III cities—a win-win for both the platform and filmmakers.

“We work closely with regional film industries across languages spanning Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and other ecosystems because that’s where some of the most authentic and culturally relevant storytelling is happening today,” said Saket Jha Saurabh, director and head of content and AR partnerships at Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company.

“These efforts also play a key role in helping us strengthen our reach across emerging markets, including tier-II and tier-III cities, where both regional storytelling and Snapchat adoption are seeing a strong momentum," he added.

While Snapchat has collaborated to promote movies such as Pushpa 2, HIT 3, Ponniyin Selvan II, Kantara Chapter 1, and Dude, top regional celebrities like Rashmika Mandanna, Allu Arjun, and Ghanta Naveen Babu, popularly known as Nani, also share content on the app, enticing their fans to sign up.

The strategy is to offer exclusive content and early previews, including first looks at films, directly to the app’s audience. “Our approach typically goes beyond traditional promotions and includes immersive AR Lenses, creator-led storytelling, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, and interactive fan experiences,” Saurabh added.

Expanding reach

The move is part of Snapchat's push to evolve from a social app into a vibrant content hub in the country, rivalling global content platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, as well as Indian rivals such as Sharechat and Moj.

Regional movie industries have been ramping up promotional and marketing efforts, with campaign budgets exceeding ₹100 crore for big-ticket titles. While ticket prices are capped in many states, limiting revenue, films are now released in multiple languages to boost collections. As a result, many campaigns are targeted at audiences across multiple markets.

South Indian films led India’s film entertainment segment in 2025, with 1,111 releases—far ahead of Hindi cinema’s 226—helping the sector grow 9% to a record ₹20,500 crore, according to the EY-FICCI Stories, Scale and Impact: Unlocking India’s Media and Entertainment Economy report. Domestic theatrical revenues accounted for 63% of the total, and the sector is projected to expand further to ₹25,300 crore by 2028.

With high ticket prices making younger moviegoers weigh every purchase, social media helps them decide which films are worth watching.

“The influence on viewing decisions operates more like word-of-mouth at scale than traditional advertising—it is ambient, trusted, and often more persuasive than paid media. Recommendations from friends and regional creators tend to carry weight, influencing viewing intent and consideration in ways that traditional promotional formats have long struggled to replicate,” said Bhushan Kadam, senior vice president-creative and strategic initiatives, at digital marketing agency White Rivers Media.

“What makes this particularly compelling is that regional cinema is mainstream for a significant and fast-growing segment of India's population. These audiences have always had deep emotional investment in their local film ecosystems; what they lacked was a digital platform that spoke their language, literally and culturally,” he added, pointing out that Gen Z is India's first generation to grow up with both regional pride and global digital fluency.

Stumbling blocks

For regional content apps, Snapchat is the key to unlocking Gen Z audiences that dominate its user base. Aha, an Indian over-the-top (OTT) content app known for streaming Tamil and Telugu content, worked with Snapchat in 2025 to promote the fifth season of Telugu Indian Idol on the app.

“The objective for this collaboration was to tap into the GenZ, across the urban and non-urban audience base, a segment Snapchat is very strong with,” said Umesh Kaipenchery, revenue head and senior vice president of Aha.

However, limited ad revenue remains a key roadblock, giving rivals an edge. “Snapchat still needs to invest significantly more to be able to get at least more advertisement revenue. The support and the structuring offered for advertisement is currently low,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of regional OTT app, Chaupal, known for streaming Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri films.

The platform lacks effective tools to track ad conversions, Mahajan said. “These are things on which Instagram, Facebook, and Google have worked quite a bit,” he added.

The executive also added that creating content for the platform is a tedious task, as promotional elements such as movie scenes or logos rarely go viral or are picked up by algorithms.

NEW DELHI : Camera-first social networking app Snapchat is leaning on India’s regional film industries, enlisting local celebrities to share movie updates and behind-the-scenes content, to engage Gen Z tier-II and tier-III cities—a win-win for both the platform and filmmakers.

“We work closely with regional film industries across languages spanning Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and other ecosystems because that’s where some of the most authentic and culturally relevant storytelling is happening today,” said Saket Jha Saurabh, director and head of content and AR partnerships at Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company.

“These efforts also play a key role in helping us strengthen our reach across emerging markets, including tier-II and tier-III cities, where both regional storytelling and Snapchat adoption are seeing a strong momentum," he added.

While Snapchat has collaborated to promote movies such as Pushpa 2, HIT 3, Ponniyin Selvan II, Kantara Chapter 1, and Dude, top regional celebrities like Rashmika Mandanna, Allu Arjun, and Ghanta Naveen Babu, popularly known as Nani, also share content on the app, enticing their fans to sign up.

The strategy is to offer exclusive content and early previews, including first looks at films, directly to the app’s audience. “Our approach typically goes beyond traditional promotions and includes immersive AR Lenses, creator-led storytelling, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, and interactive fan experiences,” Saurabh added.

Expanding reach

The move is part of Snapchat's push to evolve from a social app into a vibrant content hub in the country, rivalling global content platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, as well as Indian rivals such as Sharechat and Moj.

Regional movie industries have been ramping up promotional and marketing efforts, with campaign budgets exceeding ₹100 crore for big-ticket titles. While ticket prices are capped in many states, limiting revenue, films are now released in multiple languages to boost collections. As a result, many campaigns are targeted at audiences across multiple markets.

South Indian films led India’s film entertainment segment in 2025, with 1,111 releases—far ahead of Hindi cinema’s 226—helping the sector grow 9% to a record ₹20,500 crore, according to the EY-FICCI Stories, Scale and Impact: Unlocking India’s Media and Entertainment Economy report. Domestic theatrical revenues accounted for 63% of the total, and the sector is projected to expand further to ₹25,300 crore by 2028.

With high ticket prices making younger moviegoers weigh every purchase, social media helps them decide which films are worth watching.

“The influence on viewing decisions operates more like word-of-mouth at scale than traditional advertising—it is ambient, trusted, and often more persuasive than paid media. Recommendations from friends and regional creators tend to carry weight, influencing viewing intent and consideration in ways that traditional promotional formats have long struggled to replicate,” said Bhushan Kadam, senior vice president-creative and strategic initiatives, at digital marketing agency White Rivers Media.

“What makes this particularly compelling is that regional cinema is mainstream for a significant and fast-growing segment of India's population. These audiences have always had deep emotional investment in their local film ecosystems; what they lacked was a digital platform that spoke their language, literally and culturally,” he added, pointing out that Gen Z is India's first generation to grow up with both regional pride and global digital fluency.

Stumbling blocks

For regional content apps, Snapchat is the key to unlocking Gen Z audiences that dominate its user base. Aha, an Indian over-the-top (OTT) content app known for streaming Tamil and Telugu content, worked with Snapchat in 2025 to promote the fifth season of Telugu Indian Idol on the app.

“The objective for this collaboration was to tap into the GenZ, across the urban and non-urban audience base, a segment Snapchat is very strong with,” said Umesh Kaipenchery, revenue head and senior vice president of Aha.

However, limited ad revenue remains a key roadblock, giving rivals an edge. “Snapchat still needs to invest significantly more to be able to get at least more advertisement revenue. The support and the structuring offered for advertisement is currently low,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of regional OTT app, Chaupal, known for streaming Punjabi, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri films.

The platform lacks effective tools to track ad conversions, Mahajan said. “These are things on which Instagram, Facebook, and Google have worked quite a bit,” he added.

The executive also added that creating content for the platform is a tedious task, as promotional elements such as movie scenes or logos rarely go viral or are picked up by algorithms.