The digital battleground of films: Online trolling is changing the South cinema publicity game
A rumour surfaces. A fan page picks it up. Meme accounts amplify it. Within hours, social media is consumed by a controversy that may have started as a carefully planted post. On the surface, it looks like an organic internet frenzy. But the machinery behind the buzz can be anything but spontaneous.
A Bengaluru court’s recent intervention in the online campaign surrounding Telugu actor Nani ’s upcoming film The Paradise has put a spotlight on a question the film industry has been grappling with for years: where does genuine audience reaction end and organised digital manipulation begin? On September 19, a Bengaluru civil court granted an interim injunction restraining online entities from hosting or disseminating targeted, derogatory content against the Nani-starrer ahead of its release.
The court observed that the material placed before it appeared to go beyond standard artistic evaluation and was targeted at diminishing the production’s commercial value. Importantly, however, the order does not prevent audiences from reviewing or criticising the film. The injunction is restricted to the specific URLs listed in the plaint and expressly does not extend to bona fide public reviews or genuine critique. Court intervention has become a common practice among filmmakers in all South Indian industries lately.
Bollywood’s paid trolling and PR wars are no secret, but similar dynamics — in varying degrees — run through South Indian film industries too. The line between fandom, publicity and trolling is becoming difficult to draw. PR professionals, fan pages, meme accounts and YouTube channels now form an online ecosystem capable of turning a picture, rumour or promotional update into a viral talking point.
The nature and extent of these practices, however, differ across industries. Kannada and Telugu cinema have developed active ecosystems of digital pages and PR networks. In Tamil cinema, targeted trolling has evolved from traditional media controversies to fan groups and YouTube channels. Malayalam cinema, meanwhile, remains relatively less corporatised, according to an industry veteran.
‘There’s a constant PR machinery at work’
A Bengaluru-based public relations consultant who handles Kannada cinema promotions says her team is frequently approached to create negative buzz around both established stars and lesser-known actors. “While A-list influencers stay away from it, tier-2 and tier-3 troll pages usually agree — but at rates nearly five times their regular fee,” she reveals.
Over the years, she has seen fan wars and trolling campaigns closely enough to recognise how negative publicity can be used as a diversionary tactic. When one actor comes under sustained criticism, she says, unflattering rumours about another actor may be circulated to shift attention elsewhere.
“Nothing is impossible on the internet. There’s a constant PR machinery at work, be it good press or bad, and very little of it is organic,” she says, adding, “It doesn’t benefit anyone — except the people sparking it off.”
For audiences, however, the difficulty is figuring out where publicity ends and manipulation begins.
‘The same network can create buzz or negativity’
In Hyderabad, a digital PR consultant familiar with Telugu film campaigns describes fan pages and meme accounts as an important part of the publicity ecosystem. Sometimes, all it takes is one image. “One small leak or a stylish photo is enough. Fans make it viral, and that saves lakhs in marketing,” he says.
Posters, behind-the-scenes photographs, song snippets, casting updates and even apparently casual social media posts can be picked up by popular pages and pushed to much larger audiences. “Once a few popular pages pick it up, smaller accounts follow. The same content gets reposted across Instagram, X and other platforms, creating the impression that everyone is talking about it organically,” he explains.
But the same network can be used to push negative narratives, he reveals. “The same way you can create fan buzz around one actor, you can create negativity around another. Once the fan pages start pushing it, the conversation can quickly become much bigger than the original post,” he says. And once a narrative takes off, its origin can become almost impossible to trace. “By the time a post reaches thousands of accounts, it is almost impossible to know where it started or who pushed it first. The original source of the narrative can quickly disappear, while the conversation around it takes on a life of its own,” he adds.
‘Negative publicity has moved from fan groups to online channels’
The Tamil film industry has seen its own evolution in the way rivalries play out online. “Spreading negative stuff about rivals was earlier done through pliable journalists in the form of sensational controversies. Since the 2010s, targeted trolling has been done through fan groups of stars, with fans trending demeaning hashtags to put down their idol’s rival,” an industry source says.
The source says that the targets have expanded beyond actors to include actresses and composers, particularly with the entry of celebrity management agencies. “However, a majority of negative publicity for a rival or a film is done through certain YouTube channels these days,” the source adds.
‘PR promotes movies and actors, but not at the cost of others’
Malayalam cinema, meanwhile, paints a different picture. “There are no agencies in the Malayalam industry, just individual PR persons. Most actors don’t even have managers. There is no celebrity management concept here. All the trolling that happens here is largely among fans. Actors have no role in it; it’s almost just out of their hands,” Vivek Ramachandran of Catalyst Entertainment Consultancy says.
He attributes this partly to the industry’s smaller scale and limited corporatisation. “It is a small industry. With the corporatisation of the bigger industries, the management of the actors, too, gets corporatised. When I started celebrity management in 2003, even Bollywood didn’t have that concept. There were only star secretaries, and they didn’t do career planning or strategising. The agency concept started much later and then they had to compete amongst themselves,” Vivek adds.
PR professionals in Malayalam cinema do promote films and actors, he shares, but it typically does not involve pulling down competitors. “In the Malayalam industry, the PR promotes movies and actors, but not at the cost of other actors,” he notes.
From fan wars to PR networks: How the buzz moves in South India
KANNADA
A Bengaluru court’s recent intervention in the online campaign surrounding Telugu actor Nani ’s upcoming film The Paradise has put a spotlight on a question the film industry has been grappling with for years: where does genuine audience reaction end and organised digital manipulation begin? On September 19, a Bengaluru civil court granted an interim injunction restraining online entities from hosting or disseminating targeted, derogatory content against the Nani-starrer ahead of its release.
The court observed that the material placed before it appeared to go beyond standard artistic evaluation and was targeted at diminishing the production’s commercial value. Importantly, however, the order does not prevent audiences from reviewing or criticising the film. The injunction is restricted to the specific URLs listed in the plaint and expressly does not extend to bona fide public reviews or genuine critique. Court intervention has become a common practice among filmmakers in all South Indian industries lately.
Bollywood’s paid trolling and PR wars are no secret, but similar dynamics — in varying degrees — run through South Indian film industries too. The line between fandom, publicity and trolling is becoming difficult to draw. PR professionals, fan pages, meme accounts and YouTube channels now form an online ecosystem capable of turning a picture, rumour or promotional update into a viral talking point.
The nature and extent of these practices, however, differ across industries. Kannada and Telugu cinema have developed active ecosystems of digital pages and PR networks. In Tamil cinema, targeted trolling has evolved from traditional media controversies to fan groups and YouTube channels. Malayalam cinema, meanwhile, remains relatively less corporatised, according to an industry veteran.
‘There’s a constant PR machinery at work’
A Bengaluru-based public relations consultant who handles Kannada cinema promotions says her team is frequently approached to create negative buzz around both established stars and lesser-known actors. “While A-list influencers stay away from it, tier-2 and tier-3 troll pages usually agree — but at rates nearly five times their regular fee,” she reveals.
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Over the years, she has seen fan wars and trolling campaigns closely enough to recognise how negative publicity can be used as a diversionary tactic. When one actor comes under sustained criticism, she says, unflattering rumours about another actor may be circulated to shift attention elsewhere.
“Nothing is impossible on the internet. There’s a constant PR machinery at work, be it good press or bad, and very little of it is organic,” she says, adding, “It doesn’t benefit anyone — except the people sparking it off.”
For audiences, however, the difficulty is figuring out where publicity ends and manipulation begins.
‘The same network can create buzz or negativity’
In Hyderabad, a digital PR consultant familiar with Telugu film campaigns describes fan pages and meme accounts as an important part of the publicity ecosystem. Sometimes, all it takes is one image. “One small leak or a stylish photo is enough. Fans make it viral, and that saves lakhs in marketing,” he says.
Posters, behind-the-scenes photographs, song snippets, casting updates and even apparently casual social media posts can be picked up by popular pages and pushed to much larger audiences. “Once a few popular pages pick it up, smaller accounts follow. The same content gets reposted across Instagram, X and other platforms, creating the impression that everyone is talking about it organically,” he explains.
But the same network can be used to push negative narratives, he reveals. “The same way you can create fan buzz around one actor, you can create negativity around another. Once the fan pages start pushing it, the conversation can quickly become much bigger than the original post,” he says. And once a narrative takes off, its origin can become almost impossible to trace. “By the time a post reaches thousands of accounts, it is almost impossible to know where it started or who pushed it first. The original source of the narrative can quickly disappear, while the conversation around it takes on a life of its own,” he adds.
‘Negative publicity has moved from fan groups to online channels’
The Tamil film industry has seen its own evolution in the way rivalries play out online. “Spreading negative stuff about rivals was earlier done through pliable journalists in the form of sensational controversies. Since the 2010s, targeted trolling has been done through fan groups of stars, with fans trending demeaning hashtags to put down their idol’s rival,” an industry source says.
The source says that the targets have expanded beyond actors to include actresses and composers, particularly with the entry of celebrity management agencies. “However, a majority of negative publicity for a rival or a film is done through certain YouTube channels these days,” the source adds.
‘PR promotes movies and actors, but not at the cost of others’
Malayalam cinema, meanwhile, paints a different picture. “There are no agencies in the Malayalam industry, just individual PR persons. Most actors don’t even have managers. There is no celebrity management concept here. All the trolling that happens here is largely among fans. Actors have no role in it; it’s almost just out of their hands,” Vivek Ramachandran of Catalyst Entertainment Consultancy says.
He attributes this partly to the industry’s smaller scale and limited corporatisation. “It is a small industry. With the corporatisation of the bigger industries, the management of the actors, too, gets corporatised. When I started celebrity management in 2003, even Bollywood didn’t have that concept. There were only star secretaries, and they didn’t do career planning or strategising. The agency concept started much later and then they had to compete amongst themselves,” Vivek adds.
PR professionals in Malayalam cinema do promote films and actors, he shares, but it typically does not involve pulling down competitors. “In the Malayalam industry, the PR promotes movies and actors, but not at the cost of other actors,” he notes.
From fan wars to PR networks: How the buzz moves in South India
KANNADA
- Networks: Tier-2 & tier-3 troll pages
- Tactics: Negative rumours & planted narratives
- How it spreads: Troll pages charging up to 5x regular rates
- Focus: Rival actors targeted to divert attention
- Networks: Fan pages and meme accounts
- Tactics: Leaks, photographs, BTS content & song snippets
- How it spreads: Cross-platform reposting to create viral buzz
- Focus: Criticism, rival fan wars & negative narratives
- Networks: Star fan groups, media platforms and YouTube channels
- Tactics: Demeaning hashtags and sensational controversies
- How it spreads: YouTube channels as a key route for negative publicity
- Focus: Competitors and other industry figures
- Networks: Individual PR persons and a few formal agencies
- Tactics: Film and actor promotion; trolling largely driven by fans
- How it spreads: Fan communities and social media
- Focus: Promoting actors rather than targeting rivals
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