The battle for attention in Bollywood is increasingly being fought on social media, where online praise and criticism can sometimes be difficult to separate from professionally managed campaigns.

Industry professionals interviewed by The Indian Express have described a growing ecosystem of paid trolling in which online reputation management agencies and troll networks are allegedly hired to promote one celebrity while damaging another. The campaigns can involve coordinated posts, mass reporting, fake accounts and attempts to push particular narratives across social platforms.

For actors and filmmakers, the issue is no longer limited to online abuse. Industry insiders say manufactured narratives can influence public perception around a film, affect promotional campaigns and create pressure around a celebrity’s professional image.

How paid trolling entered Bollywood

Paid negative publicity is not entirely new to the Hindi film industry. A senior public relations professional told The Indian Express that rival camps earlier used newspapers to circulate anonymous stories or leaks about competing stars.

Social media has changed the scale of the practice. Instead of buying limited newspaper space, campaigns can now use thousands of accounts to create the appearance of widespread public opinion.

Online Reputation Management, or ORM, agencies have consequently become an important part of celebrity publicity operations. Their work can include protecting a client from negative campaigns, but industry voices quoted in the report allege that some networks also undertake offensive campaigns against rivals.

Riddhima Kapoor, who has appeared on Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives, said the distinction between genuine fan anger and organised trolling has become increasingly difficult to identify.

The allegations have surfaced around several prominent names. Alia Bhatt has faced waves of online criticism, including after the release of Alpha. Industry sources cited by the report alleged that multiple campaigns may have contributed to the criticism, although there was no confirmation that the actresses allegedly connected to those campaigns personally authorised them.

Deepika Padukone has also faced sustained online criticism after taking a position on eight-hour working shifts on film sets. Kriti Sanon’s Raksha Bandhan advertising campaign became another example of how online backlash can spill into commercial decisions after the brand withdrew the advertisement.

Katrina Kaif has faced online commentary over her appearance and fashion choices despite largely staying away from the public spotlight.

How much does a trolling campaign cost?

The business behind online trolling has developed its own pricing structure, according to people familiar with the industry.

Mass reporting of a social media account can reportedly cost only thousands of rupees. A coordinated campaign involving around 1,000 posts can cost approximately Rs 1 lakh, while a larger and sustained campaign can cross Rs 50 lakh.

The cost depends on the scale and method used. Human-operated troll accounts are reportedly more expensive than automated networks, while bots can be used to amplify a narrative once it has been introduced.

One former paid troll quoted in the report described a combination of human accounts and automated amplification as a common approach.

The rise of automated tools has also lowered the cost of generating large volumes of online activity. Fake or purchased accounts, SIM farms and automated scripts can be used to create the appearance of widespread engagement.

Fake accounts can make manufactured sentiment look real

One of the major problems with organised trolling is that it can imitate genuine public opinion.

The practice is commonly associated with sockpuppetry, where multiple false identities are created to promote a particular viewpoint or narrative.

Accounts used in such campaigns may have little personal information, few followers and limited activity. Yet when hundreds or thousands of accounts repeat the same message, the volume itself can make the narrative appear authentic.

There is another layer to the problem. Once a manufactured social media narrative is picked up by mainstream publications, influencers or other online commentators, it can acquire legitimacy beyond the original campaign.

Screenwriter Anu Singh said paid trolling can be harder to counter than organic criticism because it may be designed without a straightforward objective visible to the target.

The campaigns can move beyond public posts

Online attacks do not always remain visible on public timelines.

Several actors and filmmakers have described receiving abusive direct messages, including threats and personal attacks. Dia Mirza said she has retained screenshots of abusive messages received over the years and alleged that some appeared to come from accounts posting identical or copied comments.

Renuka Shahane said she had previously noticed repeated language and similar spelling mistakes among accounts targeting her online. She later concluded that some of the activity appeared coordinated.

The consequences can become particularly serious when family members are targeted.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has previously spoken about stepping away from social media after trolls targeted his daughter Aaliyah Kashyap. Kashyap said he now recognises many of the patterns associated with paid trolling and suggested that repetitive copy-paste messaging makes campaigns easier to identify.

Actor-filmmaker Anshuman Jha also alleged that his Instagram account had been subjected to mass reporting intended to reduce its reach.

Film releases can become targets

The impact of online campaigns can extend into a film’s commercial life.

Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha became one of the most prominent examples of the boycott movement surrounding a major Bollywood release in 2022. Khan had urged audiences not interested in watching the film to skip it. The movie later found a different audience after its release on Netflix India.

More recently, critics reviewing Dhurandhar also faced heavy online trolling, according to the report. The intensity of the response reportedly became significant enough for an international publication to remove its chief critic’s review.

The episode illustrates why social media campaigns are increasingly viewed as a business concern rather than simply a public relations nuisance. Reviews, audience sentiment and online discussions can influence the conversation surrounding a film at a crucial point in its release cycle.

PR wars create a business of their own

The ecosystem extends beyond conventional ORM companies.

The report also cites allegations involving YouTube critics, social media commentators and film influencers who are accused of pressuring producers for payments before releases.

Screenwriter Sumit Roy compared such practices to protection rackets, arguing that paying once can create pressure to continue paying.

Former industry insiders have also described situations in which rival celebrities unknowingly worked with the same PR or trolling agency. One former paid troll claimed an agency had represented both Kangana Ranaut and Randeep Hooda during a public dispute, creating an unusual situation in which the same organisation allegedly benefited from escalating the conflict.

Such allegations are difficult to independently establish because the people operating these networks often work anonymously and the celebrities whose names become associated with campaigns may not necessarily know who initiated them.

Why paid trolling matters to Bollywood

For the film industry, the larger concern is the effect on business and creative decisions.

Actors and filmmakers interviewed by The Indian Express argued that constant online warfare can shift attention away from films themselves. Instead of audiences discussing performances, scripts or filmmaking, promotional cycles can become dominated by controversies and rivalries.

Priyanka Bose described the practice as damaging to the culture of collaboration within the industry. Dia Mirza called paid trolling a deeply harmful approach, while Renuka Shahane argued that the industry would benefit more from celebrating professional successes than from organised attacks.

Anurag Kashyap said the psychological impact can be considerable, particularly when abuse escalates into threats involving family members.

Anshuman Jha described reputation as a form of currency in the film business and social media as the marketplace where that reputation is constantly traded.

The growing use of organised online campaigns also creates a difficult distinction for audiences. Genuine criticism, fan reactions and coordinated attacks can appear similar on a social media feed, making it increasingly difficult to determine whether a viral sentiment reflects public opinion or a campaign designed to manufacture it.

For Bollywood, that uncertainty carries a commercial cost. When perception can influence a film before audiences have even seen it, the fight over reputation becomes part of the business itself.