Due to the lockdown, the film industry was probably one of the worst hit industries worldwide and Bollywood suffered a similar fate in India. Films got stuck due to lockdown, OTT took over the charge and became the primary source of entertainment, and above all content shift happened.
Suddenly in 2022 lot of films hit the theatres which would have been hit in the pre-pandemic era but bite the dust in today’s times i.e. HIT, Badhaai Do, Anek, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui and Dobaaraa. But the audience now only wants big spectacle on big screens and the rest of the content they can watch on OTT.
If this tectonic shift was not enough, Bollywood’s PR machinery was worst to react and adapt to it. They left their actors in lurch and exposed on social media and in interviews where they were making reckless comments.
Leading agencies which marketed films like Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Taapsee’s Dobaaraa were found without guards. Their talents were adding to fuel to fire by obnoxious comments and here more than the actors (their job is to act and not interact with media on their own because that is why PR agencies are there for astronomical fees) PR & managers were at fault.
* Alia Bhatt to Kareena Kapoor to Vijay Deverakonda made comments that if you don’t want, please don’t watch our films while interacting to media and by the way these all are PR planned interviews where they could had easily avoided the questions or answers could had been smarter.
* Aamir Khan is going on promotional over drive and PR is taking pride for such a pedestal marketing campaign full of influencer marketing, TV show appearances and city tours which are age old method to promote the film.
* PR agencies behave with media in such an objectionable manner most of the times but they don’t have sense to protect their own talents in these volatile times.
In coming months, it’s not impossible that actors might refrain from interacting with media and rather go ahead with just fan interaction on social media platforms (remember Shah Rukh Khan going live on Instagram on 25th June talking about Pathaan and no controversy because there was no media, no PR).
Let the content talk and keep your PR managers away as they have failed and failed miserably!
