Pooja Hegde :

In a recent interview with Filmfare, Pooja candidly spoke about how she found out people were being paid to target her online, exposing how PR strategies are often weaponized in the entertainment industry.

Reflecting on the experience, Pooja said, “Many times, and to me, it was a shock. The one thing I’m really bad at is PR. I remember there was a time when I was constantly getting trolled by meme pages, and I was like, why are they constantly talking negatively about me? It looked targeted. People are spending a lot of money on pulling down other people. When I found out about it, my parents and I were very bothered. But I also took it as a compliment because if someone feels the need to pull you down, it means you are above them. I kept reassuring my parents that it was okay. But after a point, it became too much. I found out that people were spending lakhs just to troll me."

Trolling is, unfortunately, part of the social media game—but actor Pooja Hegde recently opened up about discovering the dark, transactional side of it. 

“I told my team to connect with the meme pages and ask them what the problem was. And they said, ‘This is how much they are paying us. If you’d like to stop it or troll them back, this is the amount.’ To me, it was just bizarre. People believe such things but don’t know why I’m being trolled or what the reason behind it is. Sometimes, I see a horrendous comment, go to the profile, and find that there’s no display picture or any posts. These are just paid bots."

What disturbed her even more was realizing the trolling wasn’t organic—it was monetized. Pooja revealed that when she asked her team to get in touch with the meme pages involved, they were blunt about how it worked.

On the work front, Pooja was last seen opposite Shahid Kapoor in Deva, which had a lukewarm reception both critically and commercially. Up next, she will star alongside Varun Dhawan in Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, a film positioned as a full-on commercial entertainer.

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