There are
many instance where we are forced to think about the celebrity culture and the
mound of love they get. The god culture and the kind of attitude and aura they
carry around is just something we all have been just dreaming about. But we
seldom talk about the other side of the coin where the grass is not so green
and the scenery is not that beautiful to look at, the HATE that these
celebrities have been getting, sometimes we see veteran journalists like Simi Chandoke
and many form the page 3 veterans/octogenarians’ who complain about the kind of
hate these celebs are getting without being at fault. This article is not an
attempt to justify the actions and hate they have been getting but it’s an
honest attempt to explain to “whom so ever it may concern” the reasons of the
hate comments and trolls these celebs are being subjected to. I being the
writer in no way condone or condemn the actions of the trolls and haters, but I
can understand the point of view that is going in their minds.
the Indian society is a not
just a social unit but it’s a strange phenomenon in itself, the logical social
unit which has always resorted to responding to the comments and actions taken
by the famous and powerful, never has this society ever taken a violent action
against those who have hurt them, weather it was the DMK’s Mr Udaynidhi Stalin who said what he said
about “Sanathana Dharma” which is practiced by the majority of the nation but
instead chose to show the consequences of the statement in the election cycle,
and remembering the statement of Mr Rahul Gandhi as well about Hindus always
retorting to violence [1].
But there was no violence or outrage on the streets, eventually the result of
this statement will come up again in the next season of election. Indian
society doesn’t react directly or instantly in any case these are extreme cases
when that happens and when it happens the reaction is almost always very
aggressive. We have seen very few such reactions even in the history. That is
the reaction on the political front what about celebrities, we have come here
to discuss that right? Well the response on that front is a slightly personal
on many fronts.
The love/hate relationship of
people towards the actors and collective known figures has been a bit of
complex, the nation has a short memory combined with long vengeful anger
attitude, I know this is a bit of contradicting statement I am making here but,
be patient and hear me out here. Remember the definition of hero’s in this
society has been very subjective according to the class and the perception
attached with it. For example, a lot of lower-class viewers the definition of
their hero is someone who fights the corrupt system and gets justice for the
poor, so for a long period of time this society when the earning capacity of
the nation was as low as $150 - $200 which today stands at $2,697 [2].
So, the hero of that era was the angry young man who was “Vijay Dinanath
cauhan” but the hero today has changed, today the hero is neither angry nor
fighting the corrupt system, he is just a puppet in the hands of big corporates
and almost always dreams about having a stable life without attracting any
trouble. This is also a society which deeply trusts what is sees on the screen,
every good or bad quality that the protagonist actor portrays on the screen is
directly associated with him in real life as well so much so that the actors
are typecasted many actors have always talked about being typecasted and the
way it has affected them dearly in their career [3].
This typecasting has worked wonders for some and for some it has been a
disaster, like for SRK it has portrayed him to be the romantic icon and on the
other hand actors like Amrish puri and pran got typecasted as a bad villain, so
much so that no parents ever named their kids on the name of these actors [4].
In such a society where the
connection of an actor to the audience is so hard that sometimes they feel like
the actor/public figure is literally their own family member, the audience
loves and cherishes the actors so much that when sunjay dutt was jailed one fan
stopped wearing chappals and even slept on floor[5].
So, having established that the love is so extreme that the fan might even go
lengths to change his lifestyle for his/her favorite actor the opposite should
be true right? So why deny that part of the fame game? Hate is also a part of
that fame, it means that the actor has hurt the society on a very small or
subtle level but the good thing is the reason of this discontent is always
indirectly communicated to the actor that is being hated/ trolled/ canceled.
The personal
betrayal
When
I say that the actor is so much loved that whatever he does is
cancelled/trolled what I actually mean by it is that watching the actor doing
certain stuff on screen the audience loses the grip on reality, on an
individual level that was not a problem but this happens on social level and
that is the real issue. Imagine saying something that has enraged a large chunk
of the society but the society believes in responding and not reacting and
hence they choose a much
more silent way its displeasure, that is what exactly Indian
audience has been doing altogether. Every actor who was cancelled or trolled
had a solid reason, weather it was arjun Kapoor who is worse at acting and
keeps sabotaging good movies with his sloppy acting, or its alia who is
practicing double standards by preaching to drink cool drink and sugary syrups
on screen but when it comes to real life she completely avoids sugar[6].
This inherent hypocrisy got the audience off guard and the audience instantly
felt betrayed, why would someone preach something which they don’t practice.
This also meant that the actor has taken the audience for a fool and that
silent statement felt personal to many.
The nepo-baby
tag
I have already talked about the
nepotism phenomenon in my past articles, but here I will just make a passing
reference because its important to note that there have been attempts to
justify and whitewash the act of selecting and cherry picking the high class
actors who are sons and daughters of famous actors, which businesswise also
makes sense to caste someone who already have an audience pull and almost
always guarantees a return on investment.
Argument: its
not my responsibility to build career
Answer: yes,
that’s so true this was said by Karan Johar and I completely agree with the
argument that its not your responsibility to make careers of people outside of
the industry and its completely your money and wish who to cast and who not to,
but the inherent and contrast of this statement is that when the audience says
that its my money and I shall decide who to watch and who not to, that some how
rattles the whole cabal of producers and directors. Why? This hypocritical
stance is what repulses the Indian audience, if your money is hard earned so is
the money of the common man or any simpleton for that matter, why should he
spend his money, time and efforts to go to the theater to make a career of some nepo kid they don’t even wish to see on screen? They want a full value of their
hard-earned money, they want to see a refined actor doing his work at best of
his ability, doesn’t matter whose son or daughter s/he is the performance and
paisa vasool (pv) factor matters. You cant be a hypocrite and tell force people
to watch someone who you like. People will see what they want to see not what
you want to show.
Argument: you
are the one who watches them on theater and make them famous, don’t watch if
you don’t like. -kareena Kapoor.
answer: that’s the genius the industry has been playing for a long period of time, the society has sections and fractions who are actually your core audience there are the elites who don’t watch Bollywood anyway and hence that’s not the audience the cabal is trying to target. Then there is the middle class, and lower class which has highest PPP (purchasing power parity) and spending power this is the gold mine that Bollywood has always targeted, with time this audience has been sharpening its intellect and opinion, for a longest period of time this audience had no option of entertaining itself other than the movies shown to them that was the era where the audience had no say and no way to express its opinion and hence there was no feedback loop what it likes and what it doesn’t. this lead the producers and directors to develop a crack in the system and encouraged them to make movies which they wanted to show which became a classic of that time. But with more options today this problem is solved. If the audience didn’t like the way the actor behaved, has a negative opinion about the social class and society or nation then they silently stop watching their movies hurting their economic interests.
Argument: i
think we have given too much leeway/freedom to the audience. -arjun Kapoor
Answer: too
much leeway ?? really arjun? That’s what you think of the audience who watch
your movies and literally put food on your table? Insulting the intelligence of
the audience in the most hurtful way possible?
the problem is that these actors think that they own the audience just because that
particular actor belongs to a reputed family? Really, aap kahi ke raja hai
jo aapne freedom dedi hame? Such statements actually belittle the
intelligence of a common man and gives a message that the actor things of
himself above of the audience.
The social
contract
Here is the
real reason and complete picture of the hate the actors come from. There is a
unwritten sacred social contract between the actor/ celebrity and the audience,
the contract is very simple and its terms are supposed to be simple and
actually very straight to follow.
1.
Don’t take me to be a fool, I am not
one I see through the bullshit, I just want you to be genuine and be true to
your craft and work.
2.
Don’t insult my nation and never
abuse this nation, it has fed, protected and nourished me and my generation for
years stand with it as it is doing the same for you, don’t expect me to protect
and love you if you don’t love this nation.
3.
We are humans like you, treat us with
dignity and respect, just the way we do. You cant expect me to love you even
after you treat me like a doormat, if you cant respect me you don’t deserve to
be loved and respected. Also, don’t outsource the hate you have towards me, I
see through that bullshit, I dont demand money or your property a little
dignity and respect is all that is demanded, if you cant give me that too then
you don’t deserve the love.
4.
Stand with my nation not with its
enemies who pray to destroy this sacred land day and night. Love the country
you live in or live in the country you love. I wont negotiate on that.
5.
You cant disrespect my belief system,
my gods and my civilizational ethos and expect me to love you, I am not a dog
lying on your feed who you can kick and still expect him to lick the feet. You
cant keep making disrespectful remarks on my religion and belief system and
expect me to still love you.
The social contract is like love. If its one sided it hurts, if its two sided its meaningful and full of beautiful things. Currently the actors getting hate are the ones who are practicing one-sided love they want love from the audience but hate to give anything in return. If you are wrong apologies, if you made an honest mistake apologies. If you really believe in something stand for it don’t be a hypocrite be genuine. That’s all I ask from you as an audience in addition to the above 5 don’ts. The society of India has changed a lot, gone are the days where your fathers and their fathers fooled the audience and tricked us to believe in your lies, this generation demands and respects honesty. If you cant fulfill the honest demand of the audience then are you even a true entertainer? The hate alia and its cabal is getting is actually not enough, for the kind of crimes and disparaging attitude they have towards the audience they should be ignored and cancelled at every appearance they make. But the audience has been very kind to her till now. Its high time we demand loyalty towards the nation you earn and live in, relinquish your British passport and take refuge in the nation that you earn and live in. if you can’t even do this simple act, the hate is not just justified its actually disproportionate to your actions.
[1] Sandeep Phukan,
“Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha Speech: ‘You Are Not Hindus’ Dig at BJP Draws
Protests,” India, The Hindu, July 1, 2024,
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/you-are-not-hindus-rahul-gandhis-dig-at-bjp-draws-protests-in-lok-sabha/article68355018.ece.
[2] “India GDP
(1960-2026),” accessed June 21, 2026,
https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/ind/india/gdp-gross-domestic-product.
[3] Digital Commentary
Clips, The Dark Side of Being Typecast in Bollywood, 2026, 04:45,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3kacEkQPBw.
[4] “In That Era No One
Named Their Children Pran: Shakti Kapoor,” The Times of India, July 13,
2013,
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/in-that-era-no-one-named-their-children-pran-shakti-kapoor/articleshow/21052628.cms.
[5] D. C. Correspondent,
“Sanjay Dutt Meets His Fan Who Never Wore Shoes Ever since the Actor Was
Imprisoned | Sanjay Dutt Meets His Fan Who Never Wore Shoes Ever since the
Actor Was Imprisoned,” February 28, 2016,
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/bollywood/280216/sanjay-dutt-meets-his-fan-who-never-wore-shoes-ever-since-the-actor-was-imprisoned.html.
[6] इसमई शुगर डाला है 😡🤬 #aliabhatt
#varundhawan #sonakshisinha #adityaroykapoor #tksshorts #tkssmeme, n.d., accessed
June 21, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lp-9NfSZrQo.
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