Ammy Virk, whose Punjabi film Puaada is doing very well at the box-office in India as well as abroad and whose Qismat 2 is due for an early release, was recently at the receiving end of trollers who criticised him, without justification, for not supporting the farmers’ agitation in Punjab and Delhi. The fact is that Ammy has been supportive of the agitating farmers. In fact, the actor had earlier taken food and other provisions for the farmers who are revolting (since months) on Delhi borders against the three Farm Bills passed by both, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Ammy seems to have been caught in the crossfire between the trollers and Zee which is the all-world distributor of Puaada and producer of the forthcoming Qismat 2. In the ongoing battle royale between the BJP government and the agitating farmers, Zee News, as a channel, has been on the side of the government. The trollers have not been able to appreciate the fact that Zee News and Zee Studios, as distributor/producer of a film, are different companies with separate identities even though the group may be the same (Zee). The trolls, targeting Zee and Ammy, started in Canada and gained momentum recently, forcing Ammy Virk to issue statements that he was being trolled unnecessarily. In media interviews, Ammy said that he had stood in support of the striking farmers as he was himself the son of a farmer. He also clarified that the film being distributed by Zee was not his call but that of the producers. He explained that Zee came in as distributor of Puaada after he had already shot and completed his work in the film and, therefore, he had nothing to do with the producers’ decision to sell the film to Zee. He added that he had similarly signed Zee’s Qismat 2 much before the farmers’ agitation had started. Besides, Ammy also clarified that the films were shot in 2019 when the farmers’ agitation did not even exist.
Ammy actually broke down while talking to the press when he revealed that his parents, who stay in a village in Punjab, were receiving threats from the trollers and were being told that their son was a traitor.
The Punjabi film industry has stood in solidarity with Ammy and has condemned the trollers and their unjustified trolls.