While social media is often called out for festering negativity, when used wisely, it has the potential to bring about a positive impact, and Indian pop culture has been a witness to it. Here’s a few instances when the digital medium made some real difference
When audience became the PR
The Indian film industry saw a rare phenomenon this month as filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga saw perhaps one of the biggest U-turns at the box office. It was all thanks to the fans who took to social media urging fellow users to go watch the film in theatres rather than calling it a “masterpiece” years later. As a result, the film, which opened low at ₹1.15 crore, collected more on its second Friday with ₹1.90 crore and even more on its third Friday at ₹2.85 crore. Currently, it has collected over ₹47 crore in India, and all the growth is credit to the positive word-of-mouth online.
Time up for objectification
Actor Janhvi Kapoor’s portrayal of Achiyamma in this month’s release Peddi became a hot topic of discussion because of the objectification she was subjected to. While the film emerged a commercial success, the criticism was so loud online that the director Buchi Babu Sana had to issue a public apology and even make edits to his already released film. The new version was shown in theaters from June 17 with about six minutes of new footage, including three additional scenes, to deepen Achiyyamma’s character.
Misogyny not a laughing matter
One of the biggest controversies that erupted in recent times was the “ ₹370 biryani” row. Comedian Pranit More faced massive backlash for the misogynistic comments made by an audience member named Himanshu Jangra at one of his shows. Jangra narrated a story where he spoke about expecting physical intimacy in return of spending ₹370 on a biryani on his date. The uproar on social media led to More and Jangra releasing public apologies, being summoned by the National Commission of Women and Jangra even losing his job.
Vulgar lyrics, no more!
The Indian audience on social media called out the vulgar and insensitive lyrics used in two songs this year, that too quite close to each other. First it was rapper Badshah’s song Tateeree which featured the lyrics “Aaya Badshah doli chadhne, in sabki ghodi banane”. An FIR was filed against him post the backlash and he publicly apologised, removing the song from all platforms and releasing a new version of it. His legal team also promised to sponsor the education of 50 girls from economically weaker sections. Then came the Hindi dubbed version of the Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke from the Kannada film KD: The Devil, featuring actors Nora Fatehi and Sanjay Dutt. It had lyrics like “Choosega ya Chatega, jo karega kar”. Multiple complaints were filed following the outcry over the lyrics and Nora addressed the issue publicly saying she had “no knowledge or approval over the explicit Hindi lyrics”. The song was later removed from YouTube.