Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt has come out in support of Alia Bhatt amid the online criticism surrounding the teaser of ‘Alpha’, the first female-led instalment in the YRF Spy Universe. Addressing the trolling directed at the actor, Vikram said Alia deserves encouragement for taking on a new challenge rather than being criticised for it.“Why is Alia Bhatt getting trolled? Poor thing. She’s attempting something different and should be appreciated for it,” he said in an interview with News18. Vikram also drew parallels with his own experience, claiming that the trailer of his recent film, ‘Haunted 3D: Echoes Of The Past’, was subjected to a coordinated trolling campaign. According to the filmmaker, negative comments appeared predominantly on one platform, raising suspicions about their authenticity.“We were getting a lot of bad comments on the YouTube channel of Anand Pandit Motion Pictures but not on Saregama’s YouTube channel or Instagram. Then we found out that it was a paid campaign and the people saying bad things were bots. So, we had to work that out. We can make out organic comments from inorganic ones,” he said.Speaking about the growing influence of online negativity, Vikram urged people not to blindly trust every critical comment they encounter on social media. He suggested that many such reactions could be artificially generated as part of organised campaigns.“We need to tell audiences that every bad comment they read could be generated by a bot, by a computer, by a nobody. It takes Rs 1 lakh for thousand comments. I don’t know who’s paying this money. But I’m sure everyone has enemies. You don’t know which faction is doing it. But obviously, someone doesn’t wish you well,” he said.Directed by Shiv Rawail and produced by Yash Raj Films, ‘Alpha’ is among the most eagerly awaited additions to the spy universe and marks Alia Bhatt’s first major action franchise as a lead.
