Decoding the #BoycottBollywood trend: How the film industry is dealing with hate & hashtags

The boycott trend has become a mainstay on Twitter. It began with journalists, liberals and whoever had a contrarian view on issues. But in the last few years, Bollywood has been hit hard by the boycott lobby. #BoycottBollywood is again trending as Shah Rukh Khan’s film ‘Pathaan’ nears its January 25 release.

The cinema circuit has been urging Twitter users to not boycott films as it affects livelihoods. Actor Suniel Shetty is the latest to talk on the growing menace. He urged UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to help contain the trend during a meeting in Mumbai on Thursday.

Yogi Adityanath met film personalities in Mumbai to discuss various opportunities that Hindi filmmakers can avail while shooting movies in Uttar Pradesh’s upcoming Film City. At the meeting, actor Suniel Shetty said that it is important to bring the audience back to theatres and sought Adityanath’s help in managing the anti-Bollywood sentiment.

“The hashtag that’s going on, Boycott Bollywood, ‘yeh ruk bhi sakta hai aapke kehne se’ (it can be stopped if you ask people). It is important to spread the word that we are doing good work. One rotten apple is everywhere, but just because of that you can’t call the whole industry rotten. We must figure out how we can stop this trend,” Indian Express reported Shetty as saying.

Shetty also requested Adityanath to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the anti-Bollywood sentiment saying 99 percent of the people working in the industry are good people.

The most recent target of #BoycottBollywood is Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s Pathaan. The film’s Besharam Rang song triggered protests in various states from right-wing mobs asking for a boycott of the movie. They claimed that the song disrespects the saffron colour and has objectionable content.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, activists set effigies of actors Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan on fire. Similar protests were staged in Uttar Pradesh where a complete ban was demanded. In Gujarat, Bajrang Dal members vandalised a mall and ripped off Pathaan posters at an Ahmedabad mall.

Aamir Khan’s 2014 release PK was among the first films to be targeted. It faced a lot of flak over the depiction of Hindu gods in the film.

In 2016, Lipstick Under My Burkha faced boycott as the All India Muslim Tehwar Committee objected to the portrayal of Muslim women in the film and claimed it hurt religious sentiments. Again, in 2018, Deepika Padukone starrer Padmaavat faced backlash even before its release.

However, the trend peaked in 2020 following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. This time the boycott activists started a “movement with an aim to expose the dark and dirty face of Bollywood that involves narco-terrorism, child trafficking, distasteful nudity, and other illegal practices”.

Sadak 2, starring Sanjay Dutt, Alia Bhatt, and Aditya Roy Kapur was boycotted as it promoted nepotism, the boycott army claimed.

Last year, almost every film faced some kind of backlash and a boycott.

Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha was boycotted over his old comments about feeling unsafe in the country.

Vijay Deverakonda’s Liger was boycotted after the actor said the boycott trend was going too far.

Even Ranbir Kapoor’s Brahmastra faced boycott despite it being a movie about the Hindu religion. It faced pushback over Ranbir Kapoor’s decade-old comments about liking meat and beef and because of Ranbir’s character wearing footwear while entering a mandir.