Actors Faysal Quraishi and Hareem Farooq have raised concerns over what they describe as paid negative publicity targeting their Punjabi-language film Mango Jutt, warning that coordinated online campaigns could damage individual productions and Pakistan’s struggling cinema industry.
What happened?
Quraishi addressed the issue in an Instagram video, questioning the practice of publishing negative reviews shortly after a film’s release without properly watching it. Farooq, who produced the film and stars in it, shared screenshots on Instagram that she said raised questions about whether some negative posts about the film involved payment.
Key details
- Quraishi contrasted the alleged campaign with serious film critics, who he said wait for Friday, Saturday and Sunday to pass before writing a review, while paid propaganda “starts pouring in from the next day”.
- He said paid propaganda against anything, whether a drama or a film, causes loss to the industry, adding: “We [already] have a very small industry.”
- He also acknowledged that mixed reviews and differences in taste are a natural part of cinema, and said audiences should ultimately decide a film’s commercial fate.
- In one screenshot shared by Farooq, an exchange included the question “And is it a paid post?”, followed by an affirmative response and the question “Will you share the cost or budget?”
- The material described in the posts does not, on its own, establish the extent of any coordinated campaign or identify those responsible.
- Farooq also highlighted reports that several cinemas had dropped the film, while others reduced its showtimes or moved screenings away from prime-time slots, attributing the decline to competition from Hollywood releases and negative word of mouth.
What it means for people in Pakistan
The debate goes beyond one film: it raises a question cinema-goers face every weekend — how much of what they read about a new release is independent opinion, and how much is paid for. For a small industry trying to bring audiences back to cinemas, that trust matters.
Source: https://99news.com.pk/faysal-quraishi-hareem-farooq-raise-concerns-over-alleged-paid-negative-campaign-against-mango-jutt/
