Are Controversies Produced in Bollywood?

The target is a big player this time. While we have become world leader in boycotting and banning, and if there was GST on boycotting, we’d be a $5 trillion economy soon. But what happened lately that has made me say “Kangana Ranaut could be right’?

Unprecedented, isn’t it?

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Kangana Ranaut played around with the tragedy of the death of Sushant Singh Rajput and exploits nationalist sentiments. She is known for creating controversy, then how can she be right? Kangana has been exposed a lot before, but this time she may be correct because she knows the ins and outs of Bollywood – just like Kangana exposed nepotism in Bollywood in front of the nation.

Are Controversies Produced in Bollywood? — Kangana Ranaut

It may be true that like the star kids, controversies are also produced in Bollywood. Let’s understandthe chronology.

29^th May 2022 was the night of IPL final where Gujarat and Rajasthan Royals were competing for the IPL title. On the same day – the trailer of Laal Singh Chaddha, Aamir Khan’s much anticipated film, was about to be released. The film is the official adaptation of Forrest Gump (1994), one of the most successful movies of Hollywood.

Laal Singh Chaddha will release in theatres on 11^th August, but the reaction to the trailer was lukewarm. 1994 storyline and scene by scene copy – we could have merely watched the Hindi dub of Forrest Gump, couldn’t we? However, the love which the audience hasn’t showered upon the trailer, the boycott gang gave it the much needed publicity.

By June and July, boycott Laal Singh Chaddha was trending on Twitter. Many of Aamir’s fans have already seen Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump, what is new in Laal Singh Chaddha anyway? Boycott tweets took over the internet, and finally Aamir had to step in and lead everyone not to boycott his movie. He also expressed how much he loves the country.

Actually, Aamir Khan talked in a 2015 interview about the growing intolerance in the country. His wife Kiran Rao expressed concerns for the children and pondered upon the notion of settling in abroad. By the way, thousands and lakhs are already leaving the country every year. Today, India is the top source of immigrants or skilled labour exporters across the globe which is quite embarrassing.

But people are outraged when one talks about it. People are not entirely at fault – government made internet cheapest in the world – bans other avenues – then whereto vent frustration?

At a time when celebs like Aamir Khan talk about intolerance, then people get a chance to outrage. People decided to boycott Aamir’s then soon to release movie, Dangal(2016). Several Bollywood celebrities gave unsolicited suggestions to Aamir Khan – then Dangal was released and became a blockbuster.

After that, controversy before a movie has become a trend. One gets angry, another files complaint, someone’s sentiments get hurt, and calls for boycott trend. The movies of Sanjay Leela Bhansali start with controversies – RamLeela(2013), BajiraoMastani (2015) Padmaavat (2018),GangubaiKathiawadi(2022) – prior to the release of every picture,controversies escalate quickly. In fact, a point came where Deepika Padukone was threatened of cutting her nose offfor the movie Padmaavat.Result – The movie made 300 crores in 2018.

Is that why Kangana is not supporting the boycott Laal Singh Chaddha trend? Kangana wrote on her Instagram account that Aamir is himself behind the boycott trend, because almost all the big budget movies of Bollywood flopped this year. Who knows that better than Kangana – Dhaakad with budget of 100 crores could not even make 4 crores. Kangana also wrote that the remake formula would not work. And I kind of agree with her!

Remember, Thugs of Hindustan starring Aamir Khan? The movie was inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean and looks by Captain Jack Sparrow – but the movie was garbage, and flopped. So, what is the future of Laal Singh Chaddha? Will the remake formula succeed? Will controversies surrounding it help?

Movie producers make money by selling screening rights, distribution rights, OTT rights. What is known so far is that the budget of Laal Singh Chaddha was 180 crores, whereas Netflix gave 160 crores for streaming rights. Then, who are you boycotting? Aamir Khan or Netflix?

Are Controversies Produced in Bollywood? 5

Besides, Allu Arjun acquired Telugu rights for Laal Singh Chaddha. One of the reasons why Laal Singh Chaddha is being boycotted is Kareena Kapoor khan. Kareena delivered hits like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Udta Punjab and Good Neews since boycott gang became active. She is connected to many household brands on top. So Kareena’s work has not been affected at all. Those who are boycotting believe that this will diminish Khan’s reputing in Bollywood.

But, if you get out of the world of Twitter, you will realise Khan’s are doing alright, but their own lethargic attitude is costing them. While stars of the South are accepting fresh and bold roles, producing films like Jai Bhim(2021), Bollywood is stuck in the 90s, and middle aged actors romancing actresses half their age.

One place where boycott gang was on point was Nepotism. But in reality nothing much happened – only recently Ek Villain Returns(2022) (having fair shade of nepotism) made decent money at the box office. Despite bad reviews it’s doing well. Boycott gang could not make much of an impact on Karan Johar or star kids.

The same Karan Johar is making one super-hit after another. Archies movie by Zoya Akhtar is in the making and reeks of nepotism. Then what is this boycott gang doing? Sometimes I wonder if they are secretly boycotting both Kangana Ranaut and Akshay Kumar only! May be they aren’t even boycotting, but just venting their frustrations out in the name of boycott.

What can they say on unemployment and inflation? How can they speak against the supreme leader? In fact, they deny quite apparent inflation and unemployment – it’s difficult holding on to frustration – which they can only release it online!

Note – One thing is clear – if the film is good, then it will succeed at the boy office. And if the movie is poorly made, no amount of support could save it. Probably, why South Movies are doing well, because their storylines are refreshing, visuals are enticing, etc., while Bollywood is sticking to the same old formula. Focus on real stories, it will do you good.

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