Since this morning, several social media handles shocked movie lovers by claiming that music director Shekar Chandra had been kidnapped. The posts promised more details later in the evening, leaving many to believe that something serious had happened.
Hours later, the truth came out.
The makers of the upcoming film Sahaa released a promotional video revealing that they had “kidnapped” Shekar Chandra because he wasn’t giving them the tune they wanted for the film.
The team may have felt they were attempting something innovative. Instead, it comes across as a cheap publicity stunt that mistakes shock value for creativity.
Kidnapping is a serious crime, not a marketing gimmick. Using such a sensitive subject merely to create curiosity feels irresponsible, especially at a time when misinformation spreads rapidly on social media. For a few hours, many people genuinely believed something had happened to Shekar Chandra.
More importantly, the stunt feels cringe and leaves very little impact once the truth is revealed. Some commented that when a film lacks confidence in its content, publicity stunts take over.
Recent Telugu films like Maa Inti Bangaaram and Lenin have shown that strong content, positive word of mouth, and content-oriented promotions can create genuine excitement without resorting to gimmicks designed to shock audiences. That has made Sahaa’s campaign feel even more outdated.
At a time when audiences are increasingly quick to see through artificial hype, good content remains the most effective promotion. If Sahaa has a compelling story, that is what will ultimately bring audiences to theatres, not a fake kidnapping stunt.
There is a clear difference between creative promotion and trivializing a serious crime just to grab headlines. Sahaa’s latest promotional stunt seems to fall into the latter category.
