Yami Gautam Calls Out Bollywood’s ‘PAID HYPE’ Culture, Hrithik Roshan Backs Her Stand

Actor Yami Gautam has sparked a major industry-wide debate after openly criticising what she calls a growing “paid hype” culture in Bollywood. In a detailed post on X, she said that the practice of paying for favourable coverage or paying to avoid negative publicity has now become a form of pressure and extortion. She also warned that this trend is damaging the film ecosystem and risks harming the future of Indian cinema. 

Yami began her post by saying that she has been meaning to address this issue for a long time. She said, “This so called trend of giving money, in the disguise of marketing a film, to ensure good ‘hype’ for a film is created or else ‘they’ will continuously write negative things (even before the film is released), until you pay ‘them’ money feels nothing but kind of extortion. Just because this arrangement is accessible to anyone- whether to ‘hype’ a film or spread negativity against another actor/a film is a plague that is going to affect the future of our industry in a big way.”

She went on to add, “Unfortunately if anyone feels- it’s harmless & let’s do it because it’s the new ‘normal’, is mistaken. This monster of a ‘trend’ is eventually going to bite everyone. If truth is exposed about a million things under the garb of who & what ‘success’ is over the past 5 years esp , unfortunately it’s not going to be a pretty picture for many.”

Yami added that in the South industry, these practices are not in place because there the unity is quite strong. She added, “I urge our esteemed producers, directors & actors to come together in order to arrest this termite of a culture at this stage itself & discourage it . I say this as a wife of an extremely honest man who has given everything to this film with his undying hard-work, vision & grit along with his team to create something that I know India shall be proud of. I say this as a deeply concerned member of the fraternity who, like many other industry professionals, wishes to see Indian cinema blossom with its best potential & not the other way around. Lets not kill the joy of film making & presenting it to the world & letting the audience decide what they feel. We need to protect our industry environment.”

Hrithik came out in support of Yami, and wrote: “More than anything , the golden thing that gets lost and leaves them and all of us impoverished is the journalists true voice , a chance for them to inform all the creative forces behind a movie what they felt , thought , what they applaud and criticise. Only true opinions have the potential where feedback helps us evolve. Their own right to freedom gets unknowingly usurped and so does our chance of growth. Without freedom of expression, without the truth helping us evolve , what job satisfaction can they or any of us hope for ?”

Yami was last seen in the courtroom drama Haq, which performed well both critically and commercially. Hrithik Roshan recently appeared in War 2, which released on Independence Day but did not perform well at the box office. 

Yami’s statement has triggered serious discussions online, with many calling for transparency in film marketing. As more voices join the conversation, the issue is already becoming one of Bollywood’s biggest debates of the year.