According to analyst Raj Bansal, the public no longer trusts reviews from film stars.
Bollywood in Crises: Challenges Ahead for Indian Cinema. India’s $60 billion Bollywood film industry is facing a serious reputational crisis due to fake film reviews and artificial box office claims.
Experts say the trend has not only affected public confidence but also severely depressed cinema ticket sales.
Earlier this year in January, Indian actress Mandana Karimi quits Bollywood.
Streaming platforms have transformed the film business, but industry seniors say Bollywood’s problems are largely self-inflicted, including the practice of declaring films “hits” before their release.
Producer Sunil Wadhwa told AFP that if studios or producers do not involve specific critics and influencers, they will give negative reviews even for good films, and even if the film is not good, they will build bridges of praise in exchange for payment.
According to analyst Raj Bansal, the public no longer trusts reviews from film stars. He said that the media’s mere award of four stars is viewed with suspicion by the audience, due to which ticket sales in opening shows suffer a significant decline.
Insiders allege that several influencers have regular “rate cards” while producers are accused of buying a large number of tickets themselves to increase the initial earnings.
Sudhir Kasliwal, a cinema owner in Jaipur, said that apparently online bookings are in the hundreds, but less than half the seats in the hall are filled, which gives the public a wrong impression.
Recent Controversies
Recent controversies also include the numbers of Akshay Kumar’s film “Sky Force”, whose earnings were allegedly increased from $ 6 million to $ 9 million. Similarly, questions were raised about the artificial box office figures for the 2025 release “Thamma”.
Film experts are warning that fake earnings claims and bought reviews are not only destroying audience trust, but are also increasing unrealistic compensation for stars and reducing opportunities for new talent.
To combat this, streaming platforms have started asking for audited box office reports before buying films.
Despite these allegations and public backlash, experts believe that the trend does not seem to be going away anytime soon. According to Wadhwa, this trend will continue as long as producers and studios have the desire to “buy” tickets.
