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Raising concerns over ‘paid propaganda’ against movies, Faysal Quraishi said such negative reviews hurt the entire film industry.

The actor took to Instagram on Sunday to share his shock over how some people offer their reviews without even watching the movie and sometimes, when it’s an orchestrated effort by more than one person, they even use the same words.

Even though Quraishi didn’t name any movie in his video, his comments come a few days after he and Hareem Farooq raised the alarm over alleged paid negative reviews of their new Punjabi comedy Mango Jutt.

Both the actors shared screenshots on Instagram over the weekend of a conversation claiming that paid campaigns have been initiated to spread negativity about Mango Jutt, which Farooq also produced.

Doubling down on his concerns in his Instagram video, Quraishi spoke about how Pakistani cinema, already battling shrinking audiences and limited screens, can’t afford controversies fuelled by manufactured outrage.

“Because it is a negative thing, which has been fed [to them], you’re saying the same thing. But seriously, while focused on your gains, how many people are you harming?” he asked.

“Whether the film is good or bad is a separate discussion. I know a lot of such serious film critics who wait for two to three days, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday to pass, before writing a review. But when there’s paid propaganda, the reviews start pouring in from the next day,” he added.

Quraishi said nobody but the audience has the right to make a movie a hit or a flop.

“Every film receives mixed reviews. Some of the biggest films in the world don’t get liked by a lot of people. And then there are very strange films, which people like a lot,” he said, before adding that it all depends on how people have perceived the film.

“So the thing is, paid propaganda against anything, whether it’s a drama or a film, it causes loss to the industry. We [already] have a very small industry,” he said.

Quraishi also pointed out how paid negative reviews also decrease trust among moviegoers, who already have to shell out a lot of money to watch films. The actor ended his video with a warning.

“It was very painful for me. But one thing is true, what you’re dishing out to people today, one day you will get a taste of it yourself. Remember this,” he said.