Kajol’s announcement on Friday about taking a break from social media has turned out to be a marketing stunt for the release of a motion poster for her upcoming Disney+ Hotstar web series The Trial.
“Taking a break from social media,” Kajol posted on Instagram on Friday morning with a picture, before signing off with “Facing one of the toughest trials of my life.” She also deleted all of her previous Instagram posts, leaving her fans in shock and dismay.
However, the Gupt actress was back on social media in the evening with all her previous posts and shared a motion poster of her upcoming web series The Trial — the Hindi remake of The Good Wife. “The tougher the trial, the harder you come back! Catch the trailer for my courtroom drama #HotstarSpecials #TheTrial - Pyaar Kanoon Dhokha on June 12th. #TheTrialOnHotstar,” she wrote in the caption.
Netizens didn’t take Kajol’s promotional gimmick lightly. “Crying wolf! No one will believe you next time,” one user commented on her post. “Not any publicity is good publicity. Nobody is perfect and you are not expected to be a role model but please don’t act desperate,” was the response of another Instagram user. “Seeing you post something and taking a break from social media was concerning. To see it to be used for PR is disappointing,” said yet another user.
Kajol is not the first actress to resort to a marketing gimmick on social media to promote a show or a brand. In November last year, Kiara Advani had made a cryptic post on Instagram, fuelling rumours of her marriage. However, it turned out to be a promotional stunt for a lifestyle brand.
Similarly, Anushka Sharma had courted controversy after accusing sportswear brand Puma of using her photos without her consent. It also turned out to be a promotional exercise to announce her collaboration with the brand.
Malaika Arora, too, had shared a cryptic post on Instagram last year. “I said YES,” she wrote, triggering speculations about tying the knot with her rumoured-boyfriend Arjun Kapoor. But it turned out to be a promotional gimmick for her OTT reality show Moving In With Malaika.
