Marketing Strategies in Lokesh Kanagaraj's Films: An Analysis of Master, Leo, and Coolie

Abstract

This paper sets out to test whether a director's branding or auteur status builds audience trust, and to what extent casting decisions built around stardom shape how audiences consume a film. Master represents how two star-figures enable inciting other audiences. Leo represents how tactics of ambiguity produce profitable chaos in the minds of the audience which in turn leads to unforced promotions. Coolie represents how the director could maintain the trust of the audience by focusing on all that is expected by the viewers. Drawing on a qualitative, observation-based approach conducted over an extended period, the study reads these three blockbusters as a connected case for tracing how Kanagaraj's marketing has evolved.