Movies

The Reality of Online Trolling and Paid Smear Campaigns in the Film Industry

Thursday, June 18, 2026
5 min read
The Reality of Online Trolling and Paid Smear Campaigns in the Film Industry

Alia Bhatt is in the eye of a storm right now. Her appearance at Cannes got all the chatter online. Then it just became relentless trolling. People were tearing into her for going unnoticed on the red carpet, playing along with whatever noise was happening.

The Fuel for the Mockery

What really kicked things up? Alpha’s teaser. That’s what fueled the mockery. Insiders are saying this is textbook targeted hate . Paid smear campaigns.

Shahid Kapoor might have shut down someone asking him about all the online noise directed at Alia from other actors. Vikram Bhatt has a lot to say here, though.

Vikram Bhatt's Experience with Online Hate

Vikram admitted he was getting hit with this hate. He told News18 something like, “What’s she getting trolled for? I don’t even know why they’re trolling her. Poor thing! They’re just going on and on.” He basically said the teaser itself didn't deserve all the cynicism piling up.

He felt it too about his own work. The trailer for Haunted 3D: Echoes Of The Past got paid trolling too. It was under fire.

Vikram recalled how they dealt with the noise on their end. They saw bad comments on the Anand Pandit Motion Pictures YouTube channel, but not on Saregama’s channels or Instagram. Then it clicked. It was a paid campaign. Bots were running the show. So they had to fix it. Make sure organic comments came through instead of these garbage ones.

He stressed this point: you need to tell people that any bad comment they see could be generated by anything. A bot. A computer. Some nobody. It costs money like one lakh rupees to make a thousand fake comments. You don't know who’s paying it. But everyone has enemies, right? You just don't know which faction is pulling the strings. Someone doesn’t wish you well.

The Impact on Reputation

He talked about actors getting targeted for smear campaigns against peers. Somebody mentioned an actress being relentlessly trolled. When they dug deeper, they found out some other actress was running the show. That’s hearsay. It doesn't mean it's true. But there is one thing that sticks… trolling and IMDb ratings can be pushed down just by using comments that don't work for you.

Vikram felt this whole situation sets a really unhealthy precedent. We are living in such dangerous times of perception making, you know? Luckily, his audience doesn’t care about the Instagram drama or what’s posted online. They just watch. But he worried about films built on word-of-mouth. That can be so damaging when this kind of noise gets involved. Something has to change about this.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

#sensational#movies#global#trending

More from Movies

View All

Latest Headlines