Ahead of the release of her husband Aditya Dhar's directorial venture Dhurandhar, actress Yami Gautam launched a scathing attack on a controversial practice within the film industry. Taking to social media platform X, she condemned what she described as an "extortion-like" system disguised as film marketing.
Yami Gautam's Strong Critique of Industry Practices
In a detailed post, Yami Gautam targeted the alleged trend of paying money to ensure positive hype or to prevent negative coverage for a film before its release. She expressed strong disapproval of this mechanism, which she claimed is accessible to anyone with the means to pay.
"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," she wrote.
She further contrasted the situation with the South Indian film industry, stating, "in South no one can dare do such things because the industry stands united on lot of fronts." Gautam warned that this "plague" could severely damage the future of Indian cinema, calling it a "monster of a trend" that would eventually affect everyone involved.
Dhurandhar's Release Amid Controversy and Muted Bookings
Yami's comments come just a day before the theatrical release of Dhurandhar, starring Ranveer Singh and directed by her husband, Aditya Dhar. The film's advance booking numbers have been reportedly subdued.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Dhurandhar had sold 58,801 tickets as of Wednesday, December 3. The film has secured a release across approximately 3,315 screens in India.
The film's journey to release was also marred by legal scrutiny. A week prior, the family of late Major Mohit Sharma, an Ashoka Chakra and Sena Medal awardee, approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the film's release. They alleged that the movie's content mirrored Major Sharma's life and counter-terrorism operations in Kashmir without the family's consent or consultation.
CBFC Clears Dhurandhar, Calls it a Work of Fiction
The High Court directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to examine the objections raised by Major Sharma's family. The family's petition argued that a martyr's life should not be used "for profit" and that such depiction violated posthumous personality rights.
The CBFC re-examined the film, evaluating whether it directly or indirectly depicted or resembled the late Major's life. The Board concluded that Dhurandhar is a work of fiction with no factual or biographical connection to Major Mohit Sharma.
On Tuesday, news agency ANI confirmed that the CBFC had dismissed the family's objections, officially clearing the film for release. This decision paves the way for the film's scheduled opening, albeit under the shadow of the marketing practices criticized by its director's wife and the initial controversy over its content.
