Narcotics cloud: 'Film stars fear corporate brands will abandon them'
- IndiaGlitz, [Wednesday,September 23 2020]
The drugs probe has become a big worry for Bollywood. The reasons are there for all to see. Within days, some very important names have been heard. A talent manager working for a talent management agency, during questioning by the Narcotics Control Bureau, has reportedly taken a few names for whom she has been acquiring drugs.
It's said that Bollywood is sensing some big trouble. Capturing the anxiety, columnist Minhaz Merchant says this: What worries Bollywood A-listers most about the cascading drugs investigation is the likely loss of lucrative sponsorships from corporate brands which don’t want to be associated with stars under a narcotics cloud.
A-listers make crores of rupees from endorsements and other sources. Films are not their only source of income. And, in a world of social media influencing, what the highly popular celebs say on social media is also a source of revenue.
In 2017, several Tollywoodians were interrogated by a Special Investigation Team for allegedly doing drugs. None of them has been in trouble till date. Almost all of them, with a couple of exceptions, were non-star faces. And none of them seemingly were affected in terms of endorsements.
Recently, Rakul Preet Singh told the Delhi High Court that the media trials in the drugs probe have affected her endorsements.
It's an open secret that recreational drugs have been consumed by people used to high-end lifestyles in metros. But when it comes to celebs, in a conservative society like ours, it's easy to be at the receiving end of societal scrutiny.