Toxic on Campus: Should Colleges Be Selling Films?

On August 22, Malla Reddy University became a sea of screaming fans as Rocking Star Yash and the Toxic team took over the campus for a mega pre-release event ahead of the film’s August 26 worldwide release. More than 65,000 fans reportedly turned up.

Yash arrived. The screams erupted. Kiara Advani, Rukmini Vasanth, Huma Qureshi, Akshay Oberoi and Sudev Nair joined him on stage. There was music, cameras, celebrity power and a crowd more reminiscent of a major concert than a university gathering. For the film industry, it was publicity gold. For educational institutions, however, it raises a question. When does a college stop being a campus and become a movie billboard?

Film promotions on campuses have been around for years. Producer Dil Raju, discussing the strategy of taking films into colleges, made the commercial logic clear, “These days, the youth audience is very important for a film’s success.”

His point was that campus promotions make sense when the film itself has a strong youth connection. And that is precisely why the strategy has survived. Stars get face time with thousands of potential young viewers. Films get instant social-media visibility. Colleges get a high-energy celebrity event.

Preeti Reddy, Vice-Chairman, Malla Reddy Institute, has a straightforward explanation. The audience is already there. “Film promotions are easy for any producer or any distributing agency to do inside a campus because the students are all there rather than keeping it somewhere else.” And she has a point. A university gives a film marketer what money cannot easily manufacture — thousands of young people in one place.

But Reddy says such events require serious security, crowd management, hydration, food, segregation and bouncers. She also said the organisers were asked to blur some promotional visuals. “I have taken care and we had asked to blur a few unseen images or unseen scene clips so that we feel more secure about it.”

Reddy insists the issue should not be reduced to one film. “It's not about Toxic or any other movie. Today these Gen Zs, they need to be energised.” She also believes celebrity visits can be a positive experience. “We are all fond of actors and actresses, and when these people come to a campus it is like an honour or a feel-good factor to see them.”

Not everyone in the film industry is comfortable with the trend. Actor-director Sasikumar, while promoting My Lord, recently took a firm stand against film promotions in educational institutions. His position was that colleges should remain spaces for learning rather than becoming venues for movie marketing.

Reddy argues that students will watch the film anyway. “Because even if we don’t do the pre-release event, anyway the students will go to the movie theatres to watch this movie.”

“It’s an experience, not just advertising”

“College is also about experiences outside the classroom. When a film team comes to campus, it creates excitement and gives students a chance to interact with actors and understand how the industry works. We are old enough to make our own choices about what films we watch. The responsibility should be on the organisers to ensure the event follows campus rules, rather than banning film promotions altogether.” —Chandana Sahithi, Btech III year. CSE

“I actually like film promotions happening on campus. Students are already the biggest audience for movies, so bringing actors and promotional events directly to colleges makes it more exciting. It also gives students an opportunity to see their favourite stars up close without having to attend a separate commercial event. As long as the content and event are appropriate for the campus, I don’t see a problem.” — A.Hasini, B.Tech, IV year

· Hansraj College, Delhi — Fan (2016): Shah Rukh Khan returned to his alma mater to launch the film’s title track.

· Mithibai College, Mumbai — Deva (2025): Shahid Kapoor and Pooja Hegde took the promotion to campus.

· R.D. National College, Mumbai — Deva (2025): The Deva stars also met students here as part of the campaign.

· Mithibai College — multiple films: The campus has hosted promotions for The Dirty Picture, Krrish 3, Badlapur, Brothers and Shaandaar, among others.

· For Haiwaan, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan have filmed a promotional song at SNDT College in Mumbai, with Saiyami Kher and Shriya Pilgaonkar also part of the sequence

“Colleges are a ready-made audience base”

For filmmaker Rahul Ravindran, whose The Girlfriend also held promotional events at CMR Group of Institutions, the appeal of college campuses is simple: speedy word-of-mouth and direct access to a young audience. “What is crucial in the first two or three days of a film is attaining that critical mass where enough people have watched it for word of mouth to spread. Below that number, word of mouth doesn’t really spread. One of the easiest ways to get an audience base that will very quickly spread word of mouth is colleges. Ten kids watch it in college, they’re going to be back in college the next day talking to their friends and classmates. Typically, word of mouth will spread much faster than attracting audience bases from any other strata.”

College campuses should be spaces for learning, but they can also be spaces for exciting cultural experiences. Film promotions can connect students with the industry — provided the event is appropriate for the campus.”