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Boycott Alia Bhatt trends on Twitter: Netizens compare her with Amber Heard. Here is why

Darlings will mark actor Alia Bhatt’s debut as a producer. She had launched her production house Eternal Sunshine Productions last year.

Alia plays the character of Badrunissa Shaikh who is a victim of domestic abuse. Along with her stars Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, and Roshan Mathew.

The movie which was appreciated during the teaser has now come under the scanner as netiziens accused her of promoting domestic abuse against men. Hashtag #BoycottAliaBhatt started trending on Twitter just one day before the release of the movie.

Headlined by Bhatt and Shefali Shah, who play a mother-daughter duo, "Darlings" marks the directorial debut of writer Jasmeet K Reen.

Here's how netizens have reacted:

The film shows a woman torturing her husband the same way he had tortured her. Many on social media supported this idea while some accused her of promoting domestic violence.

One user wrote, “Why is Domestic violence against men normalized and even worse mocked. 3.4 crore men in India face domestic violence . This is not acceptable." Another user also compared Bhatt to Amber Heard while Vijay Varma was compared to Johnny Depp. However, some other users supported the film saying, "People who are trending #BoycottAliaBhatt should watch the trailer instead of making a mockery of themselves... Alia bhatt was herself shown a victim of domestic violence and after that she decided to take revenge.. At this point this boycott culture is becoming funny."

Prior to this, Aamir Khan's 'Laal Singh Chaddha also triggered controversy and #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha started trending on Twitter.

Apparently, some Twitter users went through the archives and dug up Aamir's controversial "India's growing intolerance" statement and circulated it on the micro-blogging site. Reacting to the boycott trend, Aamir while speaking to Mumbai reporters requested people to watch his film.

"That Boycott Bollywood... Boycott Aamir Khan... Boycott Laal Singh Chaddha... I feel sad also because a lot of people who are saying this in their hearts believe I am someone who doesn't like India... In their hearts they believe that... And that's quite untrue," Aamir quoted as a saying. "I really love the country... That's how I am. It is rather unfortunate if some people feel that way. I want to assure everyone that it's not the case so please don't boycott my films, please watch my films," he pleaded.

Also, Akshay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan was also surrounded with controversy after an old tweet of screen writer Kanika Dhillon resurfaced on Twitter and some people claimed it was Hinduphobic.

Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt said the decision to turn producer with the film was "organic". What also helped was what her filmmaker father Mahesh Bhatt told her that it's about time she empowers other artistes through her work.

"My father said this to me that for how long are you going to constantly fuel your own car? You've to fuel other cars as well. Why don't you use the position that you're in to start helping other people's stories and lives come to life.

"As a production house, Eternal will focus on getting newer talent an opportunity and bringing their stories to the forefront," she added.

"Darlings" is set to release on Netflix on August 5.

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