Yami Gautam takes a stand against paid film hype ahead of Dhurandhar release: We’re being blackmailed

ADaylight before the relinquish of Ranveer Singh starrer Dhurandhar, worker Yami Gautam, married woman of Dhurandhar theater director Aditya Dhar, has strongly opposed the “growing trend” in the Hindi film industry of paying money under the guise of marketing to create hype. Taking to her X, Yami posted a long note on how those who refuse are targeted with negative coverage even before a film’s release. Calling it a form of extortion and a dangerous culture that could harm the future of Indian cinema, she urged producers, directors and actors to unite and put an end to it. On Thursday, Yami wrote on X, “There is something I’ve 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.” She further added, “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.”The 37-year-old said that, “No one can dare do such things because the industry stands united on lot of fronts” as she urged the film industry to come together to discourage this concerning practice.“I say this as a wife of an extremely honest man who has given everything to this film with his undying hardwork, 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. Let’s not kill the joy of filmmaking & presenting it to the world & letting the audience decide what they feel. We need to protect our industry environment,” concluded Yami.Dhurandhar, stars actors namely, Ranveer Singh, Sara Arjun, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt and R. Madhavan to name a few. This is not the first time the movie has been in the headlines for negative reasons.