Just a day before the release of Dhurandhar, actor and director Aditya Dhar’s wife Yami Gautam Dhar took to social media on Thursday to call out the “trend of giving money” to ensure “good hype” for a film.
Yami also said that such extortion practices can’t fly in the South film industry because it "stands united on lot of fronts.” She also urged actors, directors and producers of Hindi films to fight against this “termite of culture.”
“There is something iv been wanting to express since really long, I feel today is that day & I must . This so called trend of giving money, in the disguise of marketing a film, to ensure good ‘hype’ for a film is created or else ‘they’ will continuously write negative things (even before the film is released), until you pay ‘them’ money feels nothing but kind of extortion. Just because this arrangement is accessible to anyone- whether to ‘hype’ a film or spread negativity against another actor/a film is a plague that is going to affect the future of our industry in a big way,” wrote Yami on X.
“Unfortunately if anyone feels- it’s harmless & let’s do it because it’s the new ‘normal’, is mistaken. This monster of a ‘trend’ is eventually going to bite everyone. If truth is exposed about a million things under the garb of who & what ‘success’ is over the past 5 years esp , unfortunately it’s not going to be a pretty picture for many. In South no one can dare do such things because the industry stands united on lot of fronts. I urge our esteemed producers, directors & actors to come together in order to arrest this termite of a culture at this stage itself & discourage it,” she added.
Stating that Aditya has worked hard on the film and the audience should be let alone to decide what they feel about it, Yami said, “I say this as a wife of an extremely honest man who has given everything to this film with his undying hard-work, vision & grit along with his team to create something that I know India shall be proud of. I say this as a deeply concerned member of the fraternity who, like many other industry professionals, wishes to see Indian cinema blossom with its best potential & not the other way around. Lets not kill the joy of film making & presenting it to the world & letting the audience decide what they feel. We need to protect our industry environment.”
In the comment section of the post, actor Hrithik Roshan also gave his opinion on the whole issue, stating that such practices “impoverish” us of a journalist’s honest opinion about a film. “More than anything , the golden thing that gets lost and leaves them and all of us impoverished is the journalists true voice , a chance for them to inform all the creative forces behind a movie what they felt , thought , what they applaud and criticise,” he wrote. “Only true opinions have the potential where feedback helps us evolve. Their own right to freedom gets unknowingly usurped and so does our chance of growth. Without freedom of expression, without the truth helping us evolve , what job satisfaction can they or any of us hope for?”
Hrithik and Yami have worked together before on the 2017 film Kaabil.
Dhurandhar has been mired in many controversies before its release. Last month, a case was filed by Major Mohit Sharma’s family in the Delhi High court stating that the film is inspired from the late Armyman’s life and has been made without the family’s consent. The Delhi HC then instructed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to inspect the film. On December 2, the CBFC, however, gave a green chit to the film stating that it is a work of fiction with no factual or biographical connection to Major Mohit.
The film’s lead Ranveer Singh too made headlines few days ago when, at this year’s IFFI, he mimicked Rishab Shetty’s performance as ‘daiva’ in Kantara: Chapter 1 and called the deity as a “female ghost.” A complaint has also been filed against the actor.
Dhurandhar also features Arjun Rampal, R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt. It is scheduled to release on December 5.
