Yesterday renowned film critic Anupama Chopra put out an alarming Tweet about the dark reality of Bollywood publicity. A PR executive from a reputed firm approached her for positive reviews of their movie in exchange for payment.
Check out the Tweet here:
Got this text today from a PR firm. Am still processing. #wanttoweep
— Anupama Chopra (@anupamachopra) June 21, 2022
Hello
Hope your doing well.
I am X from X. Wanted to check if you are open to do paid movie reviews.
If yes, request you to please let me know how we can go about it.
Regards
It’s no secret that big, powerful teams behind commercial Bollywood flicks only view them as a money-making venture and not as the craft filmmaking was intended to be. To try to rig the process by offering a bribe is not only disrespectful to the art but also outright unethical. But do powerful B-town henchmen give a rat’s ass about skill and talent? Nope, they just want to make their big bills and call it a day.
Many people called out the unprincipled code of conduct:
ek baar market rate pata toh kar hi lo Anu, bohot hua.
— Sucharita Tyagi (@Su4ita) June 21, 2022
I get weekly calls from firms on behalf of some huge Hindi films and shows, straight up asking what I would charge for a “positive review”, the latest being a streaming show I was expected to tout as “Best of 2022”.
— Sucharita Tyagi (@Su4ita) June 21, 2022
The PR execs are ALWAYS genuinely surprised on hearing no. https://t.co/JGF7HbL3VU
Check if it's for a movie titled 'paid' 😁
— Suresh Mathew (@Suresh_Mathew_) June 21, 2022
god when I interned at a PR firm, I hated every second of sending these 😭😭😭
— sim (@cheaptadpole) June 21, 2022
Earlier, the PR was discreet about it. Now these mails have become common. #PaidReviews
— 𝒀𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝑼𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏 (@yasser_aks) June 21, 2022
Really #wanttoweep https://t.co/dFZpYfJKku
worst is when the bosses don’t believe you when you say that the journalist said no 😔
— sim (@cheaptadpole) June 21, 2022
What! To YOU? If this can happen with the very best … wow !!!
— SujathaNarayanan (@N_sujatha08) June 21, 2022
So many PR firms ask to do PAID REVIEWS. They send emails with some ‘confidentiality clause’. So you can’t even share the details. Also that most common line- “If it’s more than 3.5-4 stars, we’ll publish your name on film’s posters with your ratings” 🤷🏻♂️😂 https://t.co/NRolLnHM6S
— Aavishkar (@aavishhkar) June 21, 2022
This is the reason why many Indian shows/movies does not have good stories.If they have enough money to pay the critics why can’t they use that money to hire some good script writers and create better content. SAD.
— adam_swift (@adamswift22) June 21, 2022
Sadly, while this is highly disappointing behaviour, it surprises absolutely no one. Paid reviews are an age-old practice in Bollywood and we can only hope critics like Chopra continue to call out the malpractice and not give in.
