Sadak 2 trailer hits nepotism wall; gets 9 mn dislikes on YouTube and counting

Usually release of the trailer of a film starring A-listers is a much awaited occasion. Trailer of Sanjay Dutt-Alia Bhatt starrer ‘Sadak 2’, too, was much awaited by movie lovers, but for a different reason – to make it the most disliked video on YouTube. And this ‘feat’ is almost achieved as at the time of writing this report, ‘Sadak 2’ trailer had garnered 9 million dislikes, as against 486K likes. With this, the movie’s trailer has entered the league of most disliked videos on the video-sharing platform, including ‘YouTube Rewind 2018’ (18 million dislikes), Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ (11 million dislikes) and has overtaken Jake Paul’s ‘It's Everyday Bro’ (4.9 million dislikes) and PewDiePie’s ‘Can this video get 1 million dislikes?’ (4.8 million dislikes) by a wide margin.

‘Sadak 2’, Mahesh Bhatt’s first directorial venture in 20 years, has been heavily trolled post the mysterious death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the entire storm over nepotism and Bollywood mafia. Alia Bhatt's dismissive attitude towards the late actor in Karan Johar’s ‘Koffee with Karan’ and Mahesh Bhatt’s alleged complication in Rhea Chakraborty’s affair with Sushant Singh Rajput has angered India.

Even before the ‘Sadak 2’ trailer dropped, there were calls from fans calling for #JusticeforSushant for making it the most disliked video and also calls for boycotting the film as well as the OTT platform on which it will be streamed, Disney+ Hotstar.

The Comments section for ‘Sadak 2’ trailer on YouTube is filled with people stating that they are checking the page specifically to see how many dislikes it is getting!

In the list of never-before incidents that are happening in the year 2020, we can safely add this acute dislike for a movie trailer to the list. Never before in the history of Indian cinema have fans come out in such huge numbers to downvote a movie trailer while fighting for a deceased beloved actor.

Caught in this whole tangle is Disney+ Hotstar. Coming weeks will see more movies starring, what people are calling the ‘Nepo Brigade’ or ‘Nepo Kids’, premiering on various OTT platforms. There have been calls for uninstalling Disney+ Hotstar as well. Will the other OTT platforms be met by such heavy trolling? Time will tell.

Investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput’s death is currently underway and there are several hidden aspects that are being revealed every day. While the debate on news channels regarding nepotism and Bollywood mafia might have shifted to other big reveals in the case, these issues have not died out altogether. Movie fans are in no mood to forget and forgive those that have been stonewalling talent from outside the industry.

But does the trailer pique any interest, given that the original starring Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt was a mega hit in the 90’s? Underwhelming and stuck in a time warp is this reporter’s opinion. A fake guru, the main antagonist, who looks like a thinner version of a black-clad Mogambo, but with African dread locks – sorry we are not buying that in the 21^st century. One feels sorry for Sanjay Dutt, who has aged a lot since ‘Sadak’ and yet steals every scene from right under everyone else.

Aditya Roy Kapur – was that you in that trailer? His presence is fleeting, perhaps he will get more to do in the film.

Alia Bhatt is not at all convincing as the avenging angel. Her real-life half sister Pooja Bhatt also stars in the film but doesn’t appear in the trailer, except in photographs. It is obvious that she is dead and Sanjay Dutt carries around her memories.

Amid all the slick productions and compelling storylines that one sees these days, ‘Sadak 2’ seems jaded. Mahesh Bhatt coming out from a 20-year hibernation seems still stuck in the 90’s narrative.