Bollywood’s Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt earn public ire for ‘using her pregnancy to promote Brahmastra’

Bollywood’s Karan Johar faces yet another challenge days before his latest film Brahmastra is set to hit theatres across India. This time, the filmmaker has drawn flak online for his film’s promotions heavily playing off Alia Bhatt’s pregnancy. The actor wore a pink outfit to a pre-release event that had “baby on board” printed on the back of the shirt.

A pre-release event was held on Friday where Johar called Bhatt’s outfit “cute” to which the Gangubai Kathiawadi actor spun around and allowed the media panel and audience have a clear look at the outfit created by Indian designer Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla.

The entire team of Brahmastra was present at the event, including Mouni Roy, Nagarjuna, the film director Ayan Mukerji, Johar and fellow lead Ranbir Kapoor, who in a video clip can be seen grinning at his wife while she shows off her outfit. However, under the post by paparazzo Viral Bhayani on Instagram, Bhatt and Johar got trolled by netizens who felt that her pregnancy was being used to promote the film.

Bhatt wore a pink sharara that had gold gota patti work on it. The frills of her sharara also had word “love” in the same texture as her “baby on board” shirt. She paired the look with dupatta and a peplum blouse that had geometrical gota patti work on the front with the words at the back.

Despite the designer singing praises for the outfit, it did not get approval online. Under the post by Bhayani, some users commented on how Bhatt was using her unborn baby to promote the film, while others called it cringe and claimed Kapoor was “embarrassed”.

One user called it “horrible” while others pointed fingers at Bhatt’s PR manager for “doing what he knows best.” A user also called the promotions a form of begging in the name of their baby.

Brahmastra sees Kapoor as Shiva, a man on the verge of falling in love but his world turns upside down when he discovers that he has superpowers to control fire and a connection to a secret society of guardians. Bhatt plays his love interest Isha. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Dimple Kapadia. Indian media has also reported that Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone will be making cameos in the film.

The film will be releasing in India on September 9.