Actress Swara Bhasker unveils how boycott trends are a ‘dhanda’ for trolls
Swara Bhasker tweeted about the ‘boycott Bollywood’ trend and how it had become a ‘profitable business’. She shared a screenshot about Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’s upcoming film Brahmastra as she made the comment.
A day after Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor were stopped from praying at Mahakaleshwar Temple as they visited Ujjain with filmmaker Ayan Mukerji, Swara Bhasker tweeted about their film Brahmastra. The actor shared the screenshot of a tweet that urged people to not waste money on watching Brahmastra. The actor said that boycotting films and stars had become a ‘profitable business’.
On Wednesday, Swara shared a tweet by a Twitter page, named Gems Of Bollywood. The original tweet read, “Instead of spending money on Brahmastra support (us) @GemsOfBollywood, and get darshan (view) of Ranbir Kapoor in our gems. You can also be assured that your money is not used to sponsor Fawad Khans (Pakistani actor) or hug David Headley (terror accused) or accuse Hindus for 26/11 (Mumbai attacks).” Quote tweeting it, Swara wrote, “Dhandho che (it’s a business). The profitable business of ‘Boycott Bollywood’.”
The original tweet was accompanied by a banner that showed Ranbir from a scene in Brahmastra, with the text, “Instead of buying Brahmastra tickets, popcorn, cold drinks, please give money to Gems Of Bollywood and get darshan (view) of Brahmastra in their gems. Your money will not be used for any anti-Dharma (anti-religious) or anti-India purpose. And you will awaken masses against ‘Urduwood’.”
A few days ago, Swara had shared her take on the ongoing boycott trend on social media against Bollywood, and said that she did not think it was a major reason behind films not doing well at the box office. Swara had called herself the ‘flagbearer of boycott campaign’ as she noted that she had faced a lot of boycott calls. Swara told Zoom, “I don’t know how much boycott trends actually affect the business.
Alia Bhatt got a lot of negative attention on social media after Sushant (Singh Rajput)’s tragic suicide, which was of course completely unfair — the kind of accusations that were being made about a lot of Bollywood A-Listers. At that time, Sadak 2 had released, it got a lot of boycott calls and negative publicity and it did very badly.”
Swara’s recent tweet comes after Tuesday’s events, where Alia and Ranbir were prevented from praying at Mahakaleshwar Temple by protestors citing Ranbir’s past comment on beef. In 2011, Ranbir while promoting his film Rockstar, had said he loved eating beef. “My family is from Peshawar, so a lot of Peshawari food has come with them. I am a mutton, paya, and beef fan. Yeah, I am a big beef fan,” he had said. The old video has resurfaced ahead of the release of Brahmastra.
After Alia and Ranbir were stopped from entering the temple in Madhya Pradesh, Ayan, who had also travelled to Ujjain with them, visited the temple alone to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva before the release of Brahmastra. Apart from Ranbir and Alia, the film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy, and is set to be released in theatres on September 9.
