Makers of Emraan Hashmi-starrer face backlash as claims about their film being leaked online turn out to be bogus
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; September 15, 2016)

On Tuesday night, social media was abuzz with news of Emraan Hashmi-starrer Raaz Reboot being leaked online. A few tweets by Emraan himself and the makers about ditching the pirated copy and watching the film “only in theatres” added to the drama. But, those who frequent torrent sites couldn’t find the horror movie, fourth instalment in the Raaz franchise, available for download.

Turns out, a few wellwishers went overboard in forewarning Emraan — the so-called leak was nothing short of a big hoax. Apparently, it was only a clip from the movie that was circulating online.

And trust social media users to be ruthless when they feel cheated. Netizens started trolling the makers for what they labelled a ‘publicity gimmick’. One user posted, “‘#RaazRebootLeaked must be a rumour spread by makers themselves to mislead people into thinking that there are some people interested in seeing it.” Another tweet read, “Promotion ke Liye Saala Kuch bhi Karega. Not a single working link. Sab ki sab Fake” while one more tweeted, “If it’s a marketing gimmick, (that’s) so sad, makers; playing with emotions just for visibility/attention.”

Director Vikram Bhatt chose to stay mum. When we reached out to producer Mukesh Bhatt, he retorted, “I got an asthma attack because of the fear of the film being leaked. Do you think we would resort to such cheap tricks? A producer can even die if his film is leaked online. Only a twisted mind can think that this is marketing gimmick. Why would we incur losses?”