Yami Gautam calls out 'paid-hype' culture to promote movies

Actor Yami Gautam Dhar took to X on Thursday to criticise what she calls a rising “extortion-like” trend in Bollywood, where certain groups allegedly demand money as “marketing fees” to ensure positive coverage, and threaten negative write-ups if filmmakers refuse. She warned that the practice is damaging the industry's creative atmosphere and must stop.

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Posting a day before the release of her husband Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar, Yami wrote that negative stories are sometimes pushed “even before the film is released” unless payments are made. Calling it a “monster” normalised over the years, she urged producers, directors and actors to stand united and reject t