It’s time to boycott the Bollywood boycott trend

Those who join the boycott cinema call with a herd mentality fail to realize that Bollywood is not all about stars. One estimate puts those directly involved in India’s entertainment industry at 850,000 and those indirectly involved at 2 million, writes Amitabh Srivastva.

In 2022, Akshay Kumar, who boasts of being the biggest taxpayer in the country, gave away three big flops, all belonging to different genres.

Bachchan Paandey was a masala comedy; Samrat Prithviraj was a period drama; while Raksha Bandhan was a family drama.

The same goes for Lal Singh Chadha with Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor and is called the biggest loser when it comes to Aamir Khan (Mr.Perfect) whose films are eagerly awaited by the elite and the masses.

But the irony is Kangana Ranaut, a four time national award winner who started this boycott movement in 2020 after the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput, had three massive flops in Panga, Thalaivii and now with Dhakkad she joins the top 2022 failures whose ticket collection figures are said to be less than Rs 4,000 and the high-action drama had to be pulled from theaters.

The boycott trend is not new in the world in fact. In India, we boycotted British goods and made a bonfire of foreign clothes at the call of Mahatma Gandhi.

In independent India too, the boycott of politicians, theater artists, comedians, cricketers and cinema has been significant.

There was a time when the houses of cricketers were stoned by mobs after India lost a cricket match to Pakistan.

But today, with almost every individual holding a cell phone in their hand, boycotting, trolling and abusing movie stars has become the favorite pastime as they are the most vulnerable as no one is dare to speak for them.

The only exception being 2010 when the Shiv Sena appealed to stop the screening of “My Name is Khan” and called for its boycott.

The trigger was that Shahrukh Khan had supported the inclusion of Pakistani players in the IPL.

Rahul Gandhi, then Congress President, took it as a personal challenge from the Shiv Sena led by Bal Thackerey and traveled on local Mumbai trains to ensure theaters were not shut down by Shiv Sena protesting crowds. the day of release. .

In 2020, the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput sparked one of the worst hate movements on social media and supported by some vocal TV presenters, he called for a boycott of all

prominent film personalities accused of promoting nepotism for denying roles to promising young stars like Sushant Singh Rajput.

Prominent names that were targeted included Shahrukh, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Mahesh Bhatt and by inference Alia Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt etc.

Some of the worst abuse on social media was reserved for Big B. His fault: he didn’t speak out on the SSR’s suicide but in the same breath trolls abused him and his family in the most dire terms. ignoble for not welcoming the establishment of the Temple of Ram at Ayodhya. Is there a connection between the two subjects? I don’t know!

Leading the charge from the front was Kangana Ranaut with her detractors alleging that she aspired to political office although none of this had happened so far.

In the same wave, Deepika Padukone became an enemy of the people because when she went to promote her film Chapaak in Delhi, she was persuaded to address a gathering of students at JNU. The movie bombed.

In this same wave of boycott, people like Naseeruddin Shah, Javed Akhtar, Swara Bhaskar, Anurag Kashyap and Tapsee Pannu were heavily trolled for supporting JNU students protesting against the CAA.

It has been more than two years since SSR died and today neither his parents nor his vocal sisters have ever heard of his death.

In fact, the more the investigations multiplied, the more the unsavory aspects of SSR’s personal life began to crumble. It was revealed that he was a drug addict and changed girlfriends every year.

The call for a boycott is a Frankenstein. It devours its own creators.

Until two years ago, we knew who the victims were and why. There was an ideology of hatred and bigotry towards so-called liberals or secularists.

Most of those who have spoken out against the killing of people for eating beef or protested the intolerance of the ruling regime have borne the brunt of the virulent trolls.

Aamir Khan became a target because he said his wife was afraid to live in India.

In 2024 no one knows why they are boycotting Bollywood. On the cut list are Arjun Kapur, Ranbir Kapoor, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and the irony of ironies Kangana Ranaut who leaves no chance to go after child stars for encouraging nepotism.

However, the patience of movie stars is running out.

Arjun Kapoor says, “I think we made a mistake keeping quiet and it was our decency.”

This reaction has also led to a bizarre phenomenon where photos of prominent movie stars have been posted on social media with banners saying “Boycott people”.

But fact checkers found that they were doctored photos of protests against the rape of an underage girl in Kathua by some prominent Hindu leaders including the temple priest.

Those who join the boycott movie call with sadistic delight are the same ones who rejoice that rail concessions for senior citizens have been scrapped.

Those people with motives in their hands joining the herd mentality fail to realize that the entertainment industry does not only include Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut, Alia Bhatt but involves thousands who depend on it for their daily lives.

A 2019 estimate puts the number of people directly involved in India’s entertainment industry, including film, TV, series and now OTT platforms, at 850,000 and those indirectly affected at 2 million.

But things definitely change with ‘Brahmastra’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt produced by Karan Johar. The film, which had been in the works for several years, finally bucked the trend of empty rooms.

You could say it was a gift from the public to the newlyweds, one of Bollywood’s most beloved couples whose wedding was highly anticipated by their fans.

Even though Ranbir Kapoor’s boycott has been trending for a while due to a comment he made about eating beef 4 years ago, luckily word of mouth publicity from those who went to see the film in the cinema worked.

Alia Bhatt who is also part of the so-called nepotism lobby has proved to be a lucky mascot for the entertainment industry in this dismal scenario as Brahmastra has already crossed the 350 crore milestone and is working.

Her hold on audiences was also reflected in the recent release of her first directing venture “Darlings” where she plays a vengeful wife who can’t stand domestic violence and decides to give her husband a taste of his own. medicine.

The horror of the men in India was such that they started a trend of boycotting Alia against the film. But not only did she resist it, but her next film, Brahmastra, crossed the 300 crore mark.

Speaking of boycotting, all journalists should actually “boycott” Chup:Revenge by an artist directed by R Balki, which was recently released.

The film shows a psychopath fan of the late Guru Dutt killing all film critics in the bloodiest way possible because they don’t understand the craft and the hard work needed to make films like Kagaz ke Phool or Pyasaa which have been filmed. reviews when they were made.

But Balki is sure there was no such thing as boycotting Bollywood.

Speaking of which, he said in an interview, “That’s bullshit. It’s a nice theory to have. Few movies have flopped and propelled love to fill the columns. When success comes, they will have entertainment again and they will write “The Rise and Rise of Bollywood”.