In all my interactions with the industry people in the last two months, I’ve been expressing a lot of concern that the harm being done to the image of Bollywood by the so-called warriors of Sushant Singh Rajput demanding justice for the late star is unprecedented. Issues have gotten mixed up and that has taken a toll on the image of the largest film industry in the world like never before. I’ve been maintaining that the call for boycotting films of star kids and those who support the so-called nepotism trend (which, incidentally, was touted as the cause for Sushant committing suicide) should not be taken lightly and lying down by the industry people. In my conversations, I’ve often recalled the time in the 1990s when film funding was linked to the underworld, and have maintained that the hit which the Bollywood image had taken then was a trailer as compared to the hit its image has taken in the last two months. I’ve wondered aloud why nobody from the film industry was coming forward to clear the air and tell the gullible public, with concrete and solid examples of which there’s no dearth, that the picture of Bollywood being presented before them is incorrect. Most of the industry people have reacted by saying, they can’t stoop to the level of the negative forces at work and would rather “let the dogs bark”. Again, my reaction has been: silence may have been a virtue many years ago, but today, in the times of social media, silence is akin to acceptance of guilt. Lack of reaction on the part of the film industry is being interpreted as if Bollywood thrives on nepotism, favoritism and groupism. That’s not true. But more and more people today react with disbelief when I tell them that the film industry, of which I have been a part since so many years, is like any other industry with its pluses and minuses. They are the same people who never raised an eyebrow before this but today, their reaction is one of disgust coupled with disbelief. What has changed so suddenly that the industry which was one of the most coveted, has become the most hated and dreaded industry? It is the tirade against Bollywood, which was started the day Sushant died, by people I don’t wish to name, for reasons beneficial to them that has changed people’s perception about the entertainment industry. I’ve maintained that Bollywood needs to get its act together and come out openly and strongly against the divisive forces which are tarnishing the reputation of the industry that has over the years provided employment to lakhs of people and entertainment to millions. The reaction of Bollywood, I’ve been saying, has to be combined, cent per cent rather than half-hearted. But my pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears. Not for any other reason but because the industry had felt, the image would get cleared on its own and within days.
But my worst fears have now come true! The 8.4 million dislikes for the trailer of Mahesh Bhatt’s Sadak 2 on YouTube in just two days have underlined that there’s a hate brigade which has gotten more and more vicious in the last two months. They actually take pride in calling themselves as Bollywood haters. Many of the comments on YouTube mention that the trailer was being disliked because of the presence of star-kid Alia Bhatt in the film’s cast. The name of Mahesh Bhatt as the film’s director has also contributed to the hatred that’s building up for the film because his name is also being taken by the hate brigade in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, as a co-conspirator. Does this make sense?
Even as the Sadak 2 online drama was unfolding came the news that Deepika Padukone was heavily trolled on 13th August for her tweets on depression, soon after Sushant’s death. Her tweets about depression being an illness like any other illness continued till June 21. Trolls abused Deepika two months later even as they demanded justice from the apex court of the country for the late actor whose death they termed as murder.
Like it is not common for a celebrity to be trolled for calling depression an illness, it is also not at all routine for a film trailer to be disliked by so many people in two days. Such a huge number of dislikes for a film trailer has never happened in the history of YouTube, I am told. If reports are to be believed, the trailer has become the most disliked trailer in the history of YouTube. What is shocking is that the entire nepotism theory as the reason for Sushant’s suicide has long been discarded because the accusation now is that Rhea Chakraborty killed Sushant. Obviously, the same hate brigade is at work — and even they understand that Sushant couldn’t have both, ended his life AND been murdered. So, ever since the murder conspiracy gained ground, the nepotism theory went out of the window. In a way, the hate warriors created a theory, let it spread like wild fire, then built another theory, but never bothered to admit that their first theory was baseless and had been discarded by themselves, the very people who had built it, because they had now found another, theory and were, therefore, backing it. And if nepotism was no longer the cause for Sushant’s suicide — rather, if, as the current mood of the public is, Sushant never took his own life, in the first place — why should there be so much hatred towards star-kids and their films?
As so much venom has been spewed against the trailer of Sadak 2 mainly because it stars one of the most successful star-kids of Bollywood, something is definitely wrong. Very wrong! And if Bollywood cannot still wake up from its slumber, God save it. After all, God helps those who help themselves. Even if Bollywood does not want to “stoop to the level of the negative forces at play”, it can no longer remain a silent spectator without its own interests being harmed. After its collective image, it has now come to harming the business prospects of producers and stars. It’s now time for Bollywood to boycott social media. Why should it make itself so susceptible to filthy and personal comments by faceless creatures who seem to have superseded the investigative agencies of the country in nailing people? Social media is a decade-old phenomenon in promoting films. It is free and its reach is far and wide, but with the good comes the bad. The dislikes in the case of the Sadak 2 trailer are not organic, they are orchestrated and instigated. People have been brainwashed into believing that disliking a film of a star-kid is the only way to demand justice for something they think is wrong. If Bollywood cannot control the comments, it can at least take away the right which people have given themselves to almost abrogate a film before its release. It can do so by boycotting social media till things return to normalcy. I am not advocating for or against Sadak 2. The film will prove to be a hit or a flop according to whether people like it or dislike it once it is released. But to demolish a film, in a calculated fashion, on the mere basis of its trailer, that too, with so much venom should not be acceptable. Not just the producers of the film but every single producer needs to stand up against such bullying tactics and such manipulated dislikes. Rather than standing like mute spectators, the film industry should unite this one time. Today, it has happened to Mahesh Bhatt’s film, tomorrow could be another producer’s turn to be targeted. All producers, all filmmakers and all stars should decide to forthwith boycott every social media. The number of followers and the number of likes may give our stars and celebrities a high but didn’t films and stars exist before social media too? Didn’t films become blockbusters before social media was used for promoting them? Of course, they did! Then why so much dependence on the media which is doing more harm than good to the industry. Unfortunately, social media owes a great deal of its popularity to Bollywood. Why should the same Bollywood take things lying down from the very media it has strengthened? And, in any case, after rapper Badshah’s recent admission that he paid Rs. 75 lakh for buying likes, what value do likes and dislikes hold except for massaging or puncturing egos? Frankly, the industry people would be doing themselves great service if they cared to check the profiles of the trolls. Many of the trolls are from accounts of people who’ve joined the social media platform/s as late as in June, July or August 2020 and, on a platform like Twitter, they probably have just 5, 20, 90 or similar amount of followers. To allow such people to run down a trailer, that too, not because they’ve hated it but rather due to a campaign being run by vested interests is nothing short of foolhardiness. Genuine feedback is always welcome, instigated dislikes should not and cannot be accepted.
Agreed, social media gives stars and producers potent and free platforms to promote themselves and their films but what’s the charm in promoting films when the same social media platforms are used by vicious people to destroy the very stars and their films. Just a couple of days back, Twitter introduced a system whereby a user can decide whether he wants his post to be available for comments by one and all or only by his followers or only by people who he tags in the post. This is bad news for trolls who revel in writing negative comments under every positive post. YouTube should be asked to put a similar system in place. This would, of course, frustrate those who spread negativity on social media with their toxic comments but that’s the way it should be. Freedom of expression is not the same thing as freedom to murder a person’s right to do business.
Films were promoted even before social media came into being. It’s time for Bollywood to return to those times. Why should the film people spread themselves so thin that anyone can ruin the chance of a film even before it is released? Posters, banners, newspaper and radio publicity give no such chance to frustrated people to vent out their venom. Till a proper system comes into place on social media platforms too, Bollywood would be advised to COMPLETELY go off social media. That’s the feeling of many top industry people. A top star had many years back written on his Twitter handle that he didn’t need journalists now, as he was in direct contact with his fans. The same star has been at his wits’ end in recent times, reacting to vicious comments by some of his so-called ‘fans’ on social media. He must’ve definitely realised that social media is not the bed of roses he had imagined, that it has its plus points and minus points. Given the viciousness on display on social media platforms, more so now, stars should also rethink whether they want to lend themselves and their personal lives to public scrutiny. Their popularity can be gauged by the way their films fare. The number of followers they have on platforms like Twitter or Instagram cannot be the true measure of how much people like them.
One way of tackling the problem is for the industry Associations like The Film & Television Producers’ Guild of India to take up the matter at the highest government level (law ministry) and have social media platforms regulated. Till then, individual self-restraint should be practised. Stars, celebrities and producers have nothing to lose but everything to gain by boycotting social media, at least for some time till other social media platforms upgrade — like Twitter — to keep planned negativity at bay. For, by promoting their films for free on such media platforms, they are actually inviting people to lynch them. Frustrate the trolls by not giving them a single opportunity! They will get healed. As for the films, they will work at the box-office if they are good enough, and will flop if they deserve to. But that will happen after the release of the film, not immediately after the release of the trailer on social media.