Arm-twisting, blacklisting, and mud-slinging: The horrors of Bollywood’s PR machinery unmasked

The Indian Express spoke to individuals on both sides of the media industry — journalism and publicity — about the pressures they’ve faced in their careers. They described a landscape dominated by jealousy, vindictiveness, and entitlement. Every journalist that participated in this report admitted that a disproportionate level of control rests in the hands of a few, and that false narratives are established and executed in plain sight. Questions perceived as “controversial” are discouraged during interviews; negative reviews are targeted; favours are requested but rarely repaid. But in this community, there are also pockets of resistance, and a vocal contingent willing to rock the boat.

Also read – As star fees, entourage costs skyrocket, Hindi film industry technicians, writers and actors ‘bleed’: Bollywood’s horror show

One of the big three platforms blacklisted me

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A critic who worked at a digital platform said that he was asked to change “the last few lines” of his review of a streaming series produced by perhaps one of the biggest banners in the country. He described this as the worst case of PR pressure that he has ever faced. “You can still go and read it; nothing was changed. But they didn’t want the show to reflect the brand. They were like, ‘Keep your criticism to the show’,” he said.

The critic claimed that publicists working for a different streaming giant “fabricated lies” about him, which resulted in him being blacklisted. They stopped answering his calls or responding to emails; he was barred from attending junkets; screeners for shows and films, which are typically assigned to journalists prior to release, weren’t sent to him. “They said that I broke a review embargo for one of their series, which I had absolutely not done. What advantage am I going to gain by publishing early? Eventually, a friend of mine started working in the PR team at the platform, and he revealed to me that they had increased the size of the lie. They’d told the international team that I had broken multiple embargoes,” he said, adding that no proof was furnished by the platform to substantiate its claims.

The critic eventually began to regain his footing, but only when his friend was involved in the title being promoted. “Nobody else would speak to me,” he said, adding that platforms “selectively give access” only to critics prone to being positive. “They avoid the ones they know have a history of being more critical,” he said.

An example of a ‘spotting’ request, sent by PR personnel to journalists and the paparazzi.

Nothing succeeds like success

A senior editor with experience in television, print, and digital, said that the industry wasn’t as tightly controlled three decades ago as it is now. “When I started, there were precisely two channels, and there was print. The stars were very accessible. The PR game, as we know it, didn’t exist,” she said, adding that sometime during the early 2000s, “journalists started managing stars, and that’s when the games started.” The landscape changed entirely after the pandemic, the senior editor said. “Earlier, there were five or six players, but then, it exploded.”

She said that there has always been a “give and take” dynamic between journalists and publicists, but in recent years, she has noticed a disinterest in maintaining relationships. Major celebrities were willing to make trips to newsrooms during publicity tours back in the day; they would even wait outside without complaining. A few decades before this, journalists could simply walk onto film sets and interview actors. This would never happen now. The senior editor recalled how a young actor personally requested that he be interviewed before the release of his indie film in 2012. He is now regarded as one of the finest talents of his generation, and recently appeared in one of the biggest Hindi-language hits of all time. “Today, the same actor, you can’t get access to him,” the senior editor said. “Nothing succeeds like success. Now, you have to go through his PR (to get in touch with him). He won’t respond himself.”

She recalled a story about another young actor that “no one was interested” in speaking to before the release of an acclaimed 2015 film. “The same actor is inaccessible now. He won’t respond. He will only respond when you message him, ‘Good film’.” Another star, she said, “really misbehaved and cancelled all the interviews at the last minute” after his latest remake flopped critically and commercially. He also canned an appearance at a recent fashion show, and a different actor had to be flown in at the last minute as his replacement.

An A-list Bollywood director who has worked with one of the three Khans on multiple occasions once made a group of journalists wait for eight hours just to talk to him. When the journalists arrived to the designated venue at the given time, they were told after a bit of prodding that the man they had come to interview was, in fact, hundreds of miles away in Kashmir. Over the next few hours, infrequent updates about his travels were begrudgingly provided to the increasingly irate group. Many had picked spots on the floor of the venue, a landmark five-star hotel. When the filmmaker finally arrived, chaos erupted as the angry journalists began to demand immediate access. Any schedule that might have been drawn up earlier was torn to shreds; it was every man for himself. The filmmaker, on his part, seemed to be unaware of the mismanagement. Not once did he apologise for keeping at least 30 journalists and videographers from some of the country’s most reputed publications waiting all evening.

An example of a social media caption template that is disseminated among journalists, requesting them to amplify narratives about certain actors.

They’ll fly people in to meet stars

A PR agency that represented “all the nepo-babies” mentored by an industry veteran “became too powerful” some years ago, the senior editor further revealed. This agency would allegedly grant interview access to “only three journalists.” She said that often times, requests for interviews don’t even reach the star these days. The gatekeepers only inform “the talent” about opportunities that would be favourable to them. “Now, with WhatsApp, they’ve discovered ghosting. They will ghost you,” she said.

She praised a veteran actor, known for his youthful energy, for turning down an influencer’s request to make a Reel, and said that many young stars, like the one who recently headlined a flop remake, take close interest in the marketing strategies of their films. “Some PR companies have started doing ‘meet-and-greets’ with stars. That’s when interviewers became doomed. They’ll fly people in to meet the star, take a few pictures, post them on their social media. It was done.” Influencers, she said, are given strict deliverables by publicists, down to the number of posts they must share on their personal social media accounts. The senior editor wondered if influencer marketing, or cross-country “roadshows,” actually translate into tangible revenue.

Not too long ago, a group of journalists was stranded en-route to a Middle Eastern country for one such meet-and-greet with a big-budget film’s struggling stars. One of the journalists, while passing time at the airport, posted a humorous video on social media, requesting the A-list star to “rescue” the group from their predicament. The star is known to play saviour roles. Within five minutes of the video being posted online, the journalist received frantic calls from publicists demanding that he take it down. The star had somehow seen it, and wasn’t amused.

Every profession asks you to make compromises

A publicist working with one of the big three streaming platforms said that the “pressures” of her job revolve around “managing high-profile clients’ public images amid constant media scrutiny, handling crises like scandals or rumours, maintaining positive relationships with journalists, controlling negative narratives, and ensuring successful promotions.” She said that “navigating dynamics between actors or filmmakers who aren’t on the best terms can be particularly challenging during promotional campaigns,” and that she has been tasked in the past with maintaining a “positive narrative despite any behind-the-scenes tension” between talent.

She admitted that she has had to compromise on “personal values” to get the job done. “It’s a tough balance, especially when you’re tasked with managing narratives that may not sit right with your own sense of fairness. Over time, I’ve learned to develop a thicker skin, reminding myself that, at the end of the day, it’s work. Every profession, in some form, asks you to make compromises or face challenges that push your boundaries. It’s a part of the job, and finding ways to manage it without losing sight of your principles is something that comes with experience,” she said.

An example of a social media post that is disseminated among journalists, requesting them to amplify stories about certain actors.

The senior editor said that actors have become “very wary” of getting in trouble. “So, now, they’ve started asking for questions in advance. They send you talking points. I have had fights with people saying, ‘You don’t need to send me talking points.” She said that “all the questions” at a press conference for a mega-budget international streaming series “were planted.” The lead star, an Indian, had just appeared on a podcast where she had made several controversial statements, and she wasn’t going to let anybody question her about them.

It is also common for publicists to essentially hold journalists hostage by taking control of their interview footage, and then tampering with it before handing it over. By doing this, they can avoid making “requests” later on. When one “omnipresent” actor had a mid-interview meltdown, she forced the publicists in charge to remove that portion of the footage before handing it over to the journalist. No polite request was made; it was an order. This actor is a repeat offender. In addition to berating journalists, she was also seen publicly screaming at a publicist for getting her sushi order wrong.

A fan-favourite actor, known for his acclaimed performances across three decades, lost his cool with publicists while waiting for an interview to be set up. Despite arriving late, he said that he should’ve been given more time to get ready. The actor, who often projects himself as a son of the soil, had an entourage of over half-a-dozen men. And even though he often talks about going hungry early in his career, he now finds himself in a position where he can complain about the size of his hotel suite.

Read more – Fake fans, paid crowd: As Bollywood combats flops, how stardom is manufactured on Instagram, at film events

The media itself is killing the media

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The critic recalled being pressured into altering his reviews during the early stages of his career. “Multiple times, the big three platforms have called and asked why a review was written in a negative tone, or why a certain angle was taken. In the first two years of my career, they were slightly more pushy. I would tell them to speak to my editor. They would ask me to make the headlines of my reviews less negative. But they don’t decide my headlines; my editor and I decide my headlines.”

A reporter working at a prominent publication said that entertainment journalism spiralled into a decline partially because top editors began to cave under pressure. He highlighted the importance of strong editors standing by their reporters, and said that he was able to write incisive stories only because of the support he had. He admitted that certain journalists are labeled as problematic, and aren’t allowed to participate in press conferences. Most industry events are tightly controlled, he said, and journalists are vetted before being invited to them. Microphones are withheld from them, and given only to the most amenable reporters. He also admitted that behaviour considered out of line in the recent past, like being interrupted by publicists while conducting interviews, has now been normalised to the point that it isn’t even surprising.

The senior editor, meanwhile, said that “the ones who are losing out are those who are actually passionate about what they do.” She said that the media industry is harming itself. “Who do you trust? You have to keep watching your back. It’s very toxic, and you’re not enjoying cinema for what it is… You can’t trust anyone… It’s all about the money.”