Ranveer, Deepika, Kriti: Paid Trolling Bigger Than BO?

Bollywood's New Social Media Battle

Is Bollywood‘s biggest battle shifting from the box office to social media? Recent reports suggest that organised online trolling campaigns are becoming a major concern for the film industry. These campaigns are allegedly designed to influence public opinion and damage celebrities’ reputations.

According to multiple reports, rival camps and PR agencies are accused of spending large amounts of money to create negative narratives. These campaigns reportedly use coordinated posts to generate outrage and make it appear like genuine public sentiment.

Several Bollywood stars have allegedly faced such online attacks. Reports mention names like Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, and Ranveer Singh. Alia was reportedly criticised after the release of Alpha, with many questioning her casting and action credentials.

Kriti Sanon‘s case is also cited as an example of how damaging these campaigns can become. Her Raksha Bandhan advertisement reportedly turned into a major online controversy. The backlash became so intense that the brand eventually removed the campaign, despite reports claiming Kriti did not support the narrative surrounding it.

More recently, Jitendra, who played Bablu Pandit in Mirzapur: The Film, also faced trolling. Some viewers claimed he could not move beyond his popular Sachiv Ji character from Panchayat. However, many others appreciated his performance in the film.

Reports also claim that the financial scale of these campaigns is significant. A coordinated campaign involving around 1,000 posts can reportedly cost nearly ₹1 lakh. Larger and sustained campaigns are said to cross ₹50 lakh.

With bots, fake accounts, and organised troll networks allegedly driving these campaigns, social media is becoming a new battleground for Bollywood. Whether these reports reflect the full reality remains uncertain, but the debate over paid online trolling continues to grow.