Hindi film actor Sunil Shetty appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath to intervene in the popularisation of the social media trend “Boycott Bollywood” in order to get audiences into cinema halls. “Today if we are facing a problem then it is not about cost or subsidy, but it is to do with the audience,” he said. “We have to bring the audience back to theatres. It is very important.”

“The hashtag that’s going around, Boycott Bollywood, can stop if you say so,” he told the UP chief minister.

Shetty was speaking at an event in which Adityanath met a delegation from the film industry to discuss opportunities for filmmakers in Uttar Pradesh. Among the others from the film industry who attended were Ravi Kishan, Jackie Shroff, Rajpal Yadav, Sonu Nigam, Boney Kapoor, and Subash Ghai.