When the trailers for two Diwali releases Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 dropped, social media went into a tizzy. Every aspect of the former was critiqued—including Deepika Padukone’s cameo and the length of the trailer—and fan clubs were locked in rivalry over the next few weeks.

Spend more than five hours a day on Twitter and Instagram, and you’ll get good at spotting social media bots. While fans have locked horns before, the tonality of clashes has grown more dangerous with this shift to social media… and it’s affecting box office numbers. Once fan groups focused on supporting favourite stars; now they have morphed into highly competitive communities that actively engage in sabotaging each other’s films, especially when big releases clash.

“Toxic fandom” is when fan criticism turns into a hostile, bigoted campaign targeting a project, its stars, or creative heads. In today’s franchise-driven entertainment landscape, where studios rely heavily on fan loyalty to boost financial success, the rise of toxic fandoms threatens movie-goers’ enthusiasm.

“The noise has become deafening lately,” a marketing executive from a major studio notes, “People are out for blood, and will make sure you know of their hate. I personally feel Jigra didn’t work because of the hate towards Alia [Bhatt].”

Jigra, which released early in October, faced multiple controversies. Producer Divya Khosla Kumar alleged manipulation of box office numbers, while Manipuri actor Bijou Thaangjam accused the producers of keeping him in the dark about the quality of his role. These controversies pivoted online debates away from the emotional core of its story.

A studio insider, who worked on the film, tells us, “While Jigra had a good opening day, its collections dropped sharply, making it one of Alia’s lowest-grossing films. Also if you look at the reactions, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. How can a film about a sister saving her brother garner this reaction? The environment around Jigra showed the impact of fan club rivalries and how it can influence BO performance. Social media plays a significant role in shaping public perception, particularly when it comes to high-profile films such as this one.”

The same tone was used against Deepika Padukone after the Singham Again trailer. Many took issue with her portrayal of SP Shakti Shetty, labelling her performance “cringe” and saying she was miscast. Some specifically criticized her dialogue delivery and accent. The backlash was further amplified by videos of influencers mimicking her scenes, which went viral on platforms such as Reddit.

A member of a fan club on Twitter told us, “How the hate spiralled out of control is not something a loyal fan expected. Do we feel Alia’s team is generating hate? No. Hate is an entity by itself. Once you start the fire, you don’t know what shape it will take. Alia’s fans might have started it, but it turned into something none of us could have predicted.”

We traced a comment on Reddit to the IG account of Disha Pundit, a cinephile from Pune, who stood up for Padukone. “I have become increasingly wary of aggressive PR for Alia,” she says.

“Every few weeks, hate for DP shows up, and goes beyond films. For example, ‘Deepika is not pregnant, she is pretending’—how are these narratives built and propagated? It’s all too personal and exhausting. I miss when we connected with actors organically because of their acting and personality. Why are we not talking about how a movie is? Why do we care so much about what, who and how they are as people?”

“Toxic culture is particularly harsh toward women,” observes Tushar Joshi, Entertainment Head, India Today, “with sexist comparisons and rivalries. This misogynistic trend not only affects the actors but also plays into a broader, troubling dynamic online.”

With the upcoming clash between Singham Again and  BB3, wars have reached fever pitch. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have turned into battlegrounds, allowing fans to engage directly with promotional campaigns. Fans of SA, led by Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty loyalists, are fiercely promoting the movie while dismissing BB3. Kartik Aaryan’s followers are not sitting idle.

“You can see patterns of hate,” says exhibitor and trade analyst  Akshaye Rathi, “Dozens of micro influencers tweet the same thing, in the same language, at the same time.”

The tactics include manipulating algorithms to boost or damage a film’s perception. Coordinated down voting and leaving poor reviews on aggregator platforms such as IMDb, are standard practices. These are aimed at creating a narrative that a film is subpar, affecting its early buzz and ticket sales.

One of the most striking aspects of toxic fandoms is how well-organized they are. Members strategize attacks in closed circles on Telegram or Reddit, co-ordinating timings to make hashtags trend, flooding social media with favourable or unfavourable content, and targeting specific critics or influencers to sway public opinion.

But do these smear campaigns have any effect?

Media promotional cycles certainly get affected, says Joshi. “Fan clubs can dictate social media trends,” he tells us, “which can affect a star’s psyche and influence decisions regarding press interactions. You are playing at someone’s insecurities and vulnerabilities. An actor may choose to avoid a public engagement entirely due to a trending social media narrative; or their manager may advise against addressing it, as even a simple comment could impact the marketing, publicity, or release of their film.”

A celebrity publicist, who handles several A-listers, admits, “We don’t allow our actors to speak to the press. I need to control the narrative because even if the interviewer isn’t ill-intended, what it becomes eventually is not in his or her hands. In RJ Anmol’s interview with the Jigra team, Vasan Bala had said, ‘I had sent one very kaccha pakka [roughly drafted] email… to Karan [Johar]. Six or seven hours later, he called to say, ‘I’ve already sent it to Alia’. We were not very happy about this as Karan had to defend it when the hate for Alia got wild.”

Joshi says that actors, knowingly or unknowingly, sometimes fuel fan clubs by engaging with them. Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan have mastered the art of handling their fan bases. They encourage support one another’s films during interviews, something they’ve been doing long before social media’s rise.

“For example, Shah Rukh might say, ‘If my film releases on Diwali, go watch Salman’s film on Eid’,” says Joshi. “These gestures have been a hallmark of their camaraderie and contributed to their long careers.” In fact, one way to mitigate toxicity would be for actors to publicly call out their fan clubs when their behaviour crosses a line. 

The longevity of older stars could, in part, be credited to their refusal to let fan clubs dictate the trajectory of their careers. While some fans may think they are helping their favourite star by attacking rivals’ films, in reality, they are contributing to a culture of hostility that affects the whole industry. 

Shrenik Gandhi, CEO, White Rivers Media (a digital agency working on film promotions), breaks it down for us, “There are two types of toxic fan clubs: Organic and manipulated. The latter is driven by agendas and is located in the echo chamber of Twitter. But the first one travels [authentically].”

Another digital agency head corroborates, “Let me explain how word of mouth works. The Friday a film drops, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram get activated. Fake accounts of reviewers may be made. Taran Adarsh has faced it. The account will change Taran’s spelling slightly and give a one word review: Disappointing. Before you can combat it, everyone has believed the fake account. This reduces bookings considerably, no matter how big the star or film is.”

Though Rathi feels a good film can power through, he feels stakeholders have to work together to fix this. “No one benefits in a dog-eat-dog world. The insecurity in our stars is scary. People want to celebrate each other’s failures. Producers, exhibitors, stars, studios never sit down and ask each other how we can grow the market together.”

This is not good for already sliding number. “The overall turnover is not promising this year,” Rathi points out. “Last year, Jawan, Pathaan and Animal doing well showed hope for a bit. People were united. But in 2024, we have gone back to negativity, which can also be used well if there’s intent.” He cites the example of how Animal’s polarization became a marketing tool. 

Fan clubs can be utilized well, and Shah Rukh Khan knows how. As do stars in the South. “Be it Allu Arjun, Rajinikanth, or Jr NTR,” Rathi says, “This is why they guarantee big openings, which our biggest stars—despite being credible actors—can’t.”