Rajamouli released the Varanasi teaser as part of the title announcement, and it was expected to be one of the biggest events in Indian cinema.
The teaser has no dialogue, making it accessible to a global audience.
Adding to Rajamouli’s brand value, the film features internationally known actress Priyanka Chopra as the heroine and superstar Mahesh Babu as the hero.
With such a massive combination, many expected record-breaking numbers. However, the teaser not even garnered 20 million views across all official YouTube channels so far.
Currently, the main T-Series channel shows 15 million views, T-Series Telugu 1.7 million, T-Series Malayalam 200K and T-Series Tamil 600K. These numbers appear surprisingly low, and some fans may feel worried about this lukewarm response.
But here is the truth: these views are completely organic. Rajamouli’s team has not purchased views, likes or comments. There is no artificial inflation.
It’s important to understand that certain Telugu film songs and trailers showing 40 or 50 million views in a day are mostly the result of buying views. Even some small films claim 2 million views for songs, which is unrealistic.
Only reels can genuinely get such numbers because audiences now prefer short-form content over full songs.
Rajamouli deserves appreciation for relying on content, creativity and honest marketing instead of fake metrics.
From now on, any film attempting to buy views should compare itself with Varanasi to appear believable.
Hopefully, Rajamouli sets a new trend where the industry values organic performance and exposes how obvious and laughable paid views have become.