Al-Jazeera exposés - Bollywood’s paid reviews

The article is long but an interesting read. There’s nothing shocking in it as we’ve all discussed paid reviews (samosas) in here many times. But having an establishment like Al-Jazeera talk about it is quite something.

The gist of the article is that the industry has created a monster it cannot control. By paying critics and analysts for good reviews they’ve created a scenario where now every influencer and YouTuber asks for money in return for good reviews and if they don’t get the money they’ll trash the movie. It’s become extortion. Dharma and Jigra are used as an example of that, although reasons for Dharma’s refusal to pay was their financial woes, allegedly.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/3/7/how-the-business-of-buying-movie-reviews-is-destroying

I’ve always said critical acclaim is nothing but fronting

Then Komal Nahta said what if I murder someone at the cinema and more people come to watch movies because of it is it all good marketing 😂

Originally posted by: Maroonporsche

I’ve always said critical acclaim is nothing but fronting

It used to mean something at one point.

Nowadays even if the movie is genuinely good the trust and credibility has been eroded so much that people won’t trust it. Not on social media anyway.

Originally posted by: Maroonporsche

Then Komal Nahta said what if I murder someone at the cinema and more people come to watch movies because of it is it all good marketing 😂

I can’t even tell if you’re being sarcastic or if he really said this

He has however spoken with Aljazeera for this article and said that he charges 50K to 70K per tweet as an advertisement, unless it’s a package deal for a movie then it’s 5-7 lakhs per 13-14 tweets. But he insists those are advertisements for the movie and his review is always separate. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

Originally posted by: IAmLuvBolly

I can’t even tell if you’re being sarcastic or if he really said this

He has however spoken with Aljazeera for this article and said that he charges 50K to 70K per tweet as an advertisement, unless it’s a package deal for a movie then it’s 5-7 lakhs per 13-14 tweets. But he insists those are advertisements for the movie and his review is always separate. 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

No he really said it. But he said it in sarcastic tone. 😂 he was discussing this bulk buying phenomenon

Reviews don't matter anymore.

The fact is: mindless action, franchise sequels, and those with controversial themes are working at the box office. It's a very sad scenario.

The article by AlJazeera,is not an eye opener. We all know. But it helps that a respected,international media outlet has put it out.

What I don't like is that they targetted a female actor,when male superstars do it at a much larger scale. Had they named SRK,Akshay Kumar,Prabhas and put their photos and asked Raj Bansal,Komal, Girish Johar comment on one of their films. I would have been more impressed.

Originally posted by: you2

The article by AlJazeera,is not an eye opener. We all know. But it helps that a respected,international media outlet has put it out.

What I don't like is that they targetted a female actor,when male superstars do it at a much larger scale. Had they named SRK,Akshay Kumar,Prabhas and put their photos and asked Raj Bansal,Komal, Girish Johar comment on one of their films. I would have been more impressed.

Yes, absolutely. My guess is the likes of Komal, Bansal, and Girish wouldn’t have spoken up against big male stars. I guess even the unafraid or outspoken has a line they won’t cross in their honesty.

The article however does mention Tapsee Panu recently saying that when she was hesitant to pay for positive articles about herself SRK convinced her to think of these articles as billboards. If billboards can be purchased/rented for advertisements then why not pay for positive articles. Al-Jazeera adds that SRK didn’t respond to their call for a comment.

There’s also a small mention of how powerful personalities like Amitabh Bachchan showing public support for KRK has contributed to his brand of toxic and trashy reviews.

So I think not using any big male stars as examples of paid reviews wasn’t an Al-Jazeera editorial decision but rather a lack of support or information from Bollywood insiders.

Superstar Alia ky khilaf pr hue h intl