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ISLAMABAD: Oscar-winning Indian musician AR Rahman has suggested that a &ldquo;power shift&rdquo; in Bollywood over the past eight years, coupled with possible communal considerations, may have contributed to a sharp decline in his work in the Hindi film industry, remarks that have reignited debate over discrimination and shrinking creative freedom in India&rsquo;s cultural space.&nbsp;Speaking to the BBC Asian Network, Rahman said he did not experience discrimination when he entered&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/bollywood-battles-paid-reviews-and-fake-sale-claims" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bollywood</a>&nbsp;in the 1990s, but indicated that the industry&rsquo;s environment has changed significantly in recent years.&nbsp;&ldquo;People who are not creative have the power to decide things now,&rdquo; Rahman said, pointing to what he described as a takeover of artistic decision-making by non-creative forces.&nbsp;Communal factorsThe composer went on to suggest that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/india-witnessed-over-1300-events-of-hate-speech-in-2025-report" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">communal factors</a>&nbsp;may now quietly influence professional opportunities in Bollywood. While stressing that such bias was never expressed openly, Rahman said he often learned about being sidelined through indirect channels.&nbsp;&ldquo;It might have been a communal thing also, but not in my face,&rdquo; he said, explaining that he would hear, after the fact, that projects linked to him were reassigned or fragmented, with music companies bringing in multiple composers instead.&nbsp;Rahman&rsquo;s comments appear to challenge the image of Bollywood as an inclusive and merit-driven industry, raising questions about whether India&rsquo;s film sector is increasingly reflecting the country&rsquo;s broader political and i<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/indian-actor-paresh-rawal-sparks-controversy-over-taj-mahal-origins" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">deological polarization</a>.&nbsp;The 59-year-old musician, one of the few south Indian composers to successfully break into mainstream Hindi cinema, recalled that his early success came at a time when creativity, not conformity, drove the industry. His work in films such as Roja, Bombay, and Dil Se.. reshaped Hindi film music, while Taal later cemented his national stature.&nbsp;Rahman said he does not chase work and believes artistic integrity should determine opportunities, not political or communal alignment. He added that reduced assignments have at least allowed him to step back from an industry he suggested is no longer led by creative values.&nbsp;&lsquo;Chhaava cashed divisiveness&rsquo;&nbsp;In the same interview, Rahman also addressed criticism surrounding his work for Chhaava, a 2025 blockbuster accused of exploiting divisive themes. He acknowledged that the film &ldquo;cashed in on divisiveness&rdquo;, a rare admission from a leading Bollywood figure amid growing concerns that mainstream cinema is increasingly normalizing polarizing narratives.&nbsp;Rahman&rsquo;s remarks have struck a raw nerve in India&rsquo;s entertainment industry, exposing uncomfortable questions about power, prejudice, and shrinking space for dissenting voices in Bollywood.

India

Says he did not experience discrimination when he entered Bollywood in the 1990s, but indicated that the industry’s environment has changed significantly in recent years.

Indian singer AR Rahman exposes communal bias in Bollywood

Screengrab from YouTube: Official Dhurandhar trailer 

Blogs

Bollywood continues to exploit Pakistan-focused narratives in films like Dhurandhar, misrepresenting real events and political imagery to drive nationalist sentiment and box-office success.

Why is Bollywood so obsessed with Pakistan?

MUMBAI: India&#39;s $60-billion Bollywood industry is facing a deepening credibility crisis, as insiders warn that manipulated film reviews and inflated box office numbers are distorting public perception, ultimately hurting ticket sales. Streaming platforms have disrupted traditional cinema, but industry veterans say Bollywood&#39;s woes are also self-inflicted &mdash; including the trend to declare a film a &quot;hit&quot; even before its release. &quot;If you don&#39;t engage these influencers and critics, they will write bad reviews, even if the film is good,&quot; producer-distributor Suniel Wadhwa told AFP. &quot;If the film is bad, they will write good things about the film, provided the producer or studio has paid them.&quot; Trade analyst and veteran distributor Raj Bansal said audiences have grown skeptical of early rave reviews. &quot;As soon as the media gives four stars, people message me saying, &#39;Sir, that means the movie is not good,&#39;&quot; Bansal said. &quot;And, even if the film is good, they don&#39;t trust it.&quot; That distrust is now visible at the box office. &quot;Regular cinema-goers wait to know the correct reports,&quot; Bansal said. That means ticket sales during the vital opening shows &quot;take a major dip&quot; as film fans wait for word of mouth or &quot;genuine reviews&quot; to come out, he added. Industry insiders allege that some influencers have &quot;rate cards,&quot; with prices rising for films that generate low pre-release buzz. Producers, meanwhile, are accused of bulk-buying tickets to inflate opening-week numbers. &quot;Everything is bought and manipulated,&quot; Bansal said, referring to both reviews and social media personalities. &#39;Bleak&#39;Sudhir Kasliwal, owner of Jaipur&#39;s Gem Cinema, recalled seeing hundreds of online bookings for one of superstar Shah Rukh Khan&#39;s releases, but only a fraction of the audience showed up in person. &quot;Producers, directors, and actors themselves buy tickets ... the future of Bollywood looks very bleak if this practice continues,&quot; Kasliwal said. &quot;The wrong messages are conveyed to people, and unless good content is produced, things will never improve.&quot; Recent controversies include Bollywood A-lister Akshay Kumar&#39;s fighter jet action movie &quot;Skyforce.&quot; The film&#39;s director denied allegations of so-called &quot;block booking&quot; to boost first-week numbers, but a Mumbai-based trade analyst claimed its gross was inflated from about $6 million to over $9 million. &quot;Online booking platforms showed full houses, but many theatres were nearly empty,&quot; the analyst told AFP, requesting anonymity. Bansal said that critics who refuse to play along also risk being sidelined, while those who comply &quot;flourish.&quot; &quot;Whenever I (post) that the film has opened with weak collections (ticket sales), I receive a barrage of calls from actors, producers asking me to remove it,&quot; he said. &#39;Appetite to buy&#39;&nbsp;Producer-distributor Wadhwa said the box-office collection of the 2025 romantic-comedy-horror &quot;Thamma&quot; was also manipulated, claiming true sales were around $15 million while the film reported $18 million. Thamma director Aditya Sarpotdar defended the $18 million figure, calling it the &quot;most accurate,&quot; having come from distributors and exhibitors. &quot;When a film is still in theatres, the collection figures between producers and the trade will vary,&quot; Sarpotdar told AFP. &quot;Producer numbers are always the honest numbers.&quot; Experts warn that falsifying box office data has lasting consequences, from inflated star salaries to shrinking opportunities for new talent. &quot;You can&#39;t take the audience for granted. They know the truth,&quot; said Wadhwa, adding that to have both reviews and ticket sales manipulated was &quot;a very sad situation.&quot; Streaming platforms, now major players in film distribution, have begun demanding audited box office figures before striking deals, which has added pressure on producers. &quot;Streamers have now become sharp and careful about the film they are choosing,&quot; said Wadhwa. Despite the backlash, few expect the trend to end anytime soon. &quot;This practice will continue,&quot; Wadhwa said, until producers and studios lose their &quot;appetite to buy tickets.&quot;

Streaming platforms have disrupted traditional cinema but industry veterans say Bollywood's woes are also self-inflicted — including the trend to declare a film a "hit" even before its release.

Bollywood battles paid reviews, fake sale claims

ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;A fresh controversy has erupted in India after veteran Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal shared a poster for his upcoming film &ldquo;The Taj Story,&rdquo; depicting a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva emerging from the dome of the Taj Mahal. The imagery has drawn criticism for distorting historical facts and reviving long-standing claims that challenge the monument&rsquo;s Mughal origins. <div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-2" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPLxLkdAY9q/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=405&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com&rp=%2Farticles%2Fnew#%7B%22ci%22%3A2%2C%22os%22%3A15904377%2C%22ls%22%3A1031.3999999910593%2C%22le%22%3A1550.8999999910593%7D" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;" height="2341">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> Rawal faced heavy criticism from social media users who called the imagery misleading and disrespectful. Following the backlash, he released a clarification on behalf of the production team. The statement said the film was not religious in nature and did not claim that the Taj Mahal was built on the site of a temple.<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1972688338965475601&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=332393a6d63ee5cb56b26a76962333a0f8dbe11b&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="width: 550px; height: 729px; min-height: 0px; position: static; visibility: visible;">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div></div>British historian William Dale Rumpel also weighed in, dismissing the claims that the Taj Mahal replaced a Shiva temple as &ldquo;ridiculous and malicious nonsense.&rdquo; The Taj Mahal, built in the 17th century by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, has repeatedly been the subject of political and historical disputes in India. Critics say the disputes are fueled by attempts to rewrite history. The controversy traces back to a 1989 book by a self-proclaimed historian who argued that the Taj Mahal site once hosted a Hindu temple. The claims have since resurfaced periodically, with some Indian political figures demanding investigations into the monument&rsquo;s origins. In 2022, petitioner Rajneesh Singh asked the High Court to open 22 locked rooms of the Taj Mahal in search of Hindu idols. That same year, Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Diya Kumari claimed the land on which the Taj Mahal stands belonged to her ancestors. Despite repeated disputes, the monument continues to be recognized globally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most famous symbols of love.

Entertainment

 A new controversy has emerged in India surrounding the Taj Mahal after senior Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal shared a poster for his upcoming film “The Taj Story,” which depicted a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva emerging from the dome of the monument.

Articles tagged with "Bollywood"

Indian singer AR Rahman exposes communal bias in Bollywood

Why is Bollywood so obsessed with Pakistan?

Bollywood battles paid reviews, fake sale claims

Indian actor Paresh Rawal sparks controversy over Taj Mahal origins