‘It’s Kind Of Extortion’: Yami Gautam Calls Out Paid Hype Ahead Of ‘Dhurandhar’ Release

Mumbai: A day ahead of the release of ‘Dhurandhar’, actress Yami Gautam criticised the trend of paid marketing and called it a kind of extortion.

Yami, whose husband Aditya Dhar is the director of ‘Dhurandhar’, revealed that those who refuse to pay money are targeted and negative hype is created around their film.

Taking a strong stand against paid hype, Yami penned a long note on her X handle.

“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,” Yami wrote.

“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 actress added.

“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 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. 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 the actress.

Supporting Yami, actor Hrithik Roshan wrote, “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. 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 ?”

‘Dhurandhar’, which will hit theatres on December 5, stars Ranveer Singh, Sara Arjun, Akshaye Khanna, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt and R. Madhavan in pivotal roles.