Following the release of Alia Bhatt starrer Jigra, the spotlight has been cast on issues like corporate bookings, rigged box office collections and smear campaigns. What further added fuel to the fire was an Instagram story post by Divya Khossla where she shared a picture of an empty theatre, accusing Alia Bhatt of buying tickets, booking halls and inflating the figures of her film. Cryptic exchanges between Karan Johar and Divya sparked online chatter, giving the impression that the film fraternity is divided under the garb of being unified.
During the promotions of his upcoming production venture, Bandaa Singh Chaudhary, in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Arbaaz Khan addresses these evils and defending the film industry, says, “There is support within the industry. People do their own thing but when it’s time to unite for a common cause, the industry comes together. This industry is pretty much there for one another."
While he admits to the existence of cliques and clans within Bollywood, he opines that they exist solely because people prefer to work with those they share a great rapport with. “There are groups and camps but that just means filmmakers and actors feel comfortable working with a certain set of people, and that’s okay. But if they need, they will switch groups too. Aisa nahi hai ki woh ussi group ke saath humesha kaam karenge," Arbaaz states.
Further explaining his stance, the Dabangg and Hulchul actor continues, “If a director wants to work with a different actor, they’ll reach out. Filmmaking is such a tedious process and you would want to work with those you’re comfortable with. This comfort stems from the understanding two people share. And if they’ve found success with that combination, there’s no reason to change anything."
But the one thing that bothers Arbaaz the most about the filmmaking business is the persistent low-footfall problem. “The idea of making a film is for audiences to watch it but that window during which a film runs is very short. If a film runs for weeks, audiences may have the time and can make up their minds to see it on one of those days. But how do you catch a film with only a three-day window? It’s tough to garner any kind of support. That’s the challenging part," rues Arbaaz.
During the conversation, he also alludes to how social media trolling and the boycott culture do a lot of damage to an actor and their films. “We probably now think twice before saying something. People are very sensitive and one has to definitely be very careful about what they say because cancel culture has become very strong. The moment you say something that’s inappropriate, you may get boycotted," he says.
Arbaaz adds, “These goof-ups become inexcusable. Such things are picked up also. They get a lot of traction and push. If you receive 50 comments on a post and 40 of them are positive, the remaining ten negative ones will get highlighted. These are difficult times. What you say, how you conduct yourself and your behaviour are constantly under scrutiny."
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