After a slew of negative reviews on a ticket aggregator site, there’ve been murmurs that the team is allegedly facing a targeted attack
Dinakar feels people are taking out their anger againts Darshan on him
Last Updated: 05.12 PM, Jan 25, 2025
Kannada filmmaker Dinakar Thoogudeepa’s return to direction after nearly 6 years, Royal, released in theatres on January 24 and within hours the film was trending for a wrong reason. It was alleged that a targeted attack had been unleashed on the film with several negative reviews posted on a ticket aggregator site and bringing its average score down to 2.8 only. Several 1-star reviews with very similar wordings were seen on the site.
It was further alleged that these negative reviews were either the handiwork of fans of another actor, who is said to have beef with Dinakar’s brother Darshan, who is currently out on bail in a murder case or from audiences harbouring anti-Darshan sentiments. This was countered with a claim that Darshan fans engineered both the negative trend and the positive uptick later, given that the film opened to below average reviews and bookings.
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Speaking during a theatre visit, Dinakar also addressed this, saying that it seems that he was at the receiving end of anger directed at Darshan. He hoped that Darshan fans would support him and ensure the film gets the love it deserves. Royal, produced by Jayanna Films, has one-film-old Viraat in the lead, along with Sanjana Anand.
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The actress was also trolled after she said in an interview that the one thing she’d want to learn from Darshan was his Kannada. Her comment was then stitched together with the Challenging Star’s viral audio clips, in which he is heard abusing his wife and the media in the most obscene and vile manner.
Darshan fans have now sprung into action and the film has an over 8 rating on the ticket aggregator site. Whether or not this will also result in increased bookings and footfalls for the film remains to be seen. As of now, Royal is going green on booking sites.