YRF promotes Hemant Kundnani to head of marketing

MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films has done what most studios take years to work out, promote from within. The Mumbai banner has elevated Hemant Kundnani to head of marketing, a step up from his previous post as senior general manager of communications, and he will now report directly to Akshaye Widhani, chief executive officer of Yash Raj Films. It is the kind of internal elevation that signals real confidence rather than a hedge.

Kundnani’s brief has just got considerably bigger. He will now drive the studio’s marketing strategy across its entire film and entertainment portfolio, at a moment when YRF is actively building and evolving its businesses both in India and in overseas markets. That is no small task for a studio juggling theatrical releases, streaming ambitions and an expanding global footprint.

The promotion is backed by a genuinely substantial résumé. Kundnani brings more than 15 years of expertise across digital strategy, content marketing and strategic alliances, credentials built over stints at The Walt Disney Company, where he held leadership roles across Fox Star Studios, Disney Interactive and UTV, giving him a rare vantage point across traditional studio marketing, digital platforms and interactive media all at once.

His nearly five years at YRF have clearly counted for something. During that stretch, Kundnani was closely involved in shaping communications for the studio and its diverse businesses, navigating an entertainment landscape that has shifted dramatically across media, digital and content in that time. That hands-on experience inside YRF’s own ecosystem is precisely what appears to have tipped the scales in his favour.

Widhani was unambiguous in his endorsement, saying Kundnani has grown significantly during his time at YRF and has consistently demonstrated a strong understanding of the entertainment business, audiences and the changing marketing landscape. He added that Kundnani’s experience across marketing, digital, analytics, partnerships and communications gives him a valuable and holistic perspective on how entertainment brands are built today, and said he expects a strategic, integrated and audience-first approach going forward.

That phrase, audience-first, is worth dwelling on. Studios across India are increasingly aware that marketing can no longer be a bolt-on to a film’s release calendar, it needs to be woven into how a brand is built from the ground up. Handing that mandate to someone who has already spent half a decade inside YRF’s own communications machinery, rather than importing an outside hire, suggests the studio wants continuity and institutional memory driving that shift, not a steep learning curve.