In recent times, social media sites have become a cesspool of wretchedness and depravity. It has never been any easier for trolls to target at will the people with clout such as celebrities, politicians, journalists, critics, lawyers, artists, activists, etc. The troll would simply accuse a person of something he/she has nothing to do with. The troll knows that there wouldn’t be any repercussions, for the platforms seldom hold anyone accountable for an act of personal hate. Unless the hate is driven towards a race or a community, the chances are high that the platform wouldn’t take any severe action against the culprit. Typically, the platform would just recommend the aggrieved party to block or mute the perpetrator. But, blocking or muting someone doesn’t stop the troll from spewing more and more venom.
What makes it worse is that such behavior gets celebrated and such trolls in turn gain clout of their own. Moreover, seeing the culprit go scot-free, others are encouraged to follow the suit. In the absence of any support from the platform, the persons under attack must learn to give it back instead of resorting to silence, hoping that their silence will help them quell the situation. But, in reality, their silence invariably gets interpreted as an admission of guilt. Therefore, it’s paramount to set the record straight by vociferously denying the false accusations made by the troll at once. Let’s take the case of Kamal Rashid Khan aka KRK who has made a career out of trolling B-town celebrities. His huge nuisance value has helped him built a mammoth base of subscribers across Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The Dubai-based businessman and self-proclaimed critic was recently in the news for making strong accusations against Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and his charitable trust, Being Human. While Khan did sue KRK, it didn’t stop the latter from further maligning the former through his hateful posts on social media. And yet the social media platforms didn’t take any action against KRK in the matter.
Now, interestingly, had KRK’s attacks been targeted at any race or a community instead of Salman Khan, an individual, the platforms would have been compelled to take immediate action against KRK. These double standards raise serious questions about the commitment of social media platforms towards maintaining community standards. But are the social media platforms the only culprits? No, of course not! The indifference of the famous and the powerful from the Hindi film industry is equally responsible for this. This includes noted critics and journalists who for some reason continue to turn a blind eye towards KRK instead of taking a strong stand against him. More recently, KRK put out a YouTube video wherein he derogatorily referred to the Indian critics as ‘Samosa Critics’
Ever since Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic death back in June last year, KRK has been constantly and methodically launching vicious attacks against some of the biggest names in the film industry through his highly misplaced and exaggerated claims about work culture and practices in the industry. These tactics basically have allowed him to channelize the angst and resentment amongst the youth on social media platforms to give a major fillip to his subscriber base.
Going by the numbers, KRK is currently one of the most followed critics on social media with a fanbase spanning millions. What’s ironical is that he doesn’t simply don the critic’s hat but actually calls himself the ‘No. 1 critic in the world’ and that too without even possessing the most elementary knowledge about film appreciation, cinema studies, or history of film. Of late, he is claiming to have stopped reviewing films that he considers ‘small’ or ‘C grade’ owing to which he hasn’t reviewed the Vidya Balan starrer Sherni and Taapsee Pannu starrer Haseen Dillruba. What’s really scary is that when he purportedly states that a film starring critically acclaimed A-listed actors is too small for him to review, he is actually influencing millions of impressionable minds with his false claims. And let’s not forget that from time to time he also uses his social media accounts to share his opinion on politics and sports, among other things.
KRK’s ascent as a social media influencer reminds one of Elia Kazan’s Hollywood classic A Face in the Crowd wherein a popular television presenter named Lonesome Rhodes garners such a huge following that even the top politicians start seeking his help with their election campaigns. Rhodes suddenly starts seeing himself as “Not just an entertainer, but an influence, a wielder of opinion, a force” as he proclaims: “This whole country’s just like my flock of sheep!”
Who knows, tomorrow, KRK may very well become our Lonesome Rhodes—a false prophet, a wielder of opinion, and an influencer numero uno capable of manipulating people to only watch what he wants them to watch (or not watch what he doesn’t want them to watch), eat what he wants them to eat (or not eat what he doesn’t want them to eat), drink what he wants them to drink (or not drink what he doesn’t want them to drink), wear what he wants us to wear (or not wear what he doesn’t want them to wear), and read what he wants them to read (or not read what he doesn’t want them to read). Even as KRK continues to spew the venom of hate and negativity through social media, one wonders if the social media platforms and the film fraternity would ever be able to forgive themselves for creating Frankenstein’s monster.