Opinion! Will the 'Boycott Bollywood' trend remain forever?

The 'Boycott Bollywood' trend is back to haunt the Indian film industry. This situation seems to be never-ending, as every then and now a movie is getting trapped inside this ongoing trend. And...

This time, the trend has caught Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's 'Pathaan'. Just few days after the official launch of the song 'Besharam Rang' on December 12, trouble started brewing.

The far right-wing groups made objections on Padukone's saffron and green bikini in the song. Many leaders demanded a ban on the film. A slew of activists in Indore even staged a protest and set effigies of the stars of the film on fire.

Adding more oil to the fire, on friday, Bajrang Dal activists tore the film's posters and burnt them in front of a theatre at Narengi, to protest agsinst the screening of the film in Guwahati.

After the event occurred, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that SRK called him up at 2 am on Sunday to express concern over a protest against his upcoming film. Sarma assured the actor that his government will enquire about the demonstration. "I assured him that it's the duty of the state govt to maintain law & order. We'll enquire and ensure no such untoward incidents,” he tweeted on Twitter. The Siddharth Anand-directorial will be released on January 25, a day ahead of the Republic Day. The movie marks SRK's return to the big screen after the 2018 flop 'Zero'.

The Heroine of Bollywood Kareena Kapoor Khan, who suffered the wrath of the 'Boycott Bollywood' trend during the release of 'Laal Singh Chaddha', also addressed the issue and expressed her concern.

During a discussion at the Indian Chamber of Commerce-Young Leaders Forum event in Kolkata, the 42-year-old said she doesn't agree with the 'Boycott Bollywood' trend. "I don't agree with it at all. If that happens, how will we entertain, how will you have joy and happiness in your life, which, I think everybody needs? And which cinema and films are promising, which we have always done, which films have always done. Agar films nahi hogi toh entertainment kaisa hoga (There will not be any entertainment without movies)".

Even the Kapoor's brother, Ranbir Kapoor's 'Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva' was also under the boycott heat, but managed to do well at the box-office, emerging as one of the highest-grossing films of 2022.

Recalling the history this all started, after the shocking demise of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the hashtag 'Boycott Bollywood' started trending. However, in 2022, superstar Aamir Khan's 'Laal Singh Chaddha', an official Hindi remake of the 1994 Tom Hanks-starrer 'Forrest Gump', was one of the first casualties of the 'Boycott Bollywood' trend. Later, 'Raksha Bandhan', 'Liger' and many others followed suit. Which later kept on growing its heat. And now it's capturing every other film into its flames.

Indian film industry which is in grewsome trouble now has breathed a sigh of relief when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last week, asked his party workers to refrain from making 'unnecessary remarks on irrelevant issues such as movies'. In his address to the BJP national executive meeting, PM Modi said that making unnecessary remarks on irrelevant issues put the party's development agenda on the back burner.

To which Bollywood's Khiladi Akshay Kumar supported and was thrilled to hear PM Modi take a stand. During the trailer launch of his upcoming movie 'Selfiee', he said the PM was 'India's biggest influencer' and it will be great for the film industry if his words can bring about some change.

"Positivity is always welcome. And if our Prime Minister is saying something like this... He is India's biggest influencer. If he is saying something and if things change it'll be great for the industry. And why not, things should change, because we go through so much. We make films, go to the censor board, get them passed and then someone says something and phir gadbad ho jati hai (it becomes a mess). But now that he has said it, I think it'll be better for us."

This trend somehow seems to becoming a habit of supporters of Boycott Bollywood. As Kareena Kapoor said that there will be no entertainment left then, which though stands true. As films are the ultimate source of entertainment and not just entertainment but rich source of information also.

We agree with the point that harming any religious sentiments are purely wrong. But boycotting every movie and sticking to it, to making it as a trend is not right.

Comment below your views! And let us know if you agree or disagree...