Laal Singh Chaddha director Advait Chandan reacts to reports of paid trolls being hired to create buzz around film

Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha has been making headlines of late for all the wrong reasons. Aamir Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha has been embroiled in controversies ever since its trailer was released. In the past several weeks, the lead stars of Laal Singh Chaddha -- Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, have been brutally trolled by netizens for their past controversial interview and comment, respectively. Most recently, the film's scriptwriter Atul Kulkarni was also trolled for old his 'what makes you think I'm Hindu' tweet. Enraged netizens have been calling for a boycott of the film by trending #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha on social media for the past couple of weeks.

After facing a boycott trend on Twitter, new reports surfaced online that alleged the trolls were "paid" to create buzz around the film. Now, Laal Singh Chaddha director Advait Chandan on Monday hit back at those claiming that paid trolls had been hired to create a controversy around the film.

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Reacting to such allegations, filmmaker Chandan took to Instagram and uploaded a note -- packing in a sharp sarcastic punch against those casting aspersions. "I am told there are people being paid to troll Aamir Sir. This is deeply upsetting to hear and it's outright unfair. Why have I been trolling him for free?" He added the hashtag #PayEveryTroll," Advait said taking a jibe.

In 2015, Aamir Khan said in an interview, "Our country is very tolerant, but there are people who spread ill-will". His wife Kiran Rao also made headlines for saying that she considered leaving the country for the safety of their children. Reacting to the particular interview, Twitter users put up posts using hashtags such as #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha and #Boycottaamirkhan. The trolls also dug up when Aamir met Turkey's First Lady Emine Erdogan while he was shooting for Laal Singh Chaddha there. Netizens were unhappy with the meeting as happened in the backdrop of Turkey's increasing anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand.

The recent social media trends have got Aamir worried that he had to request people to watch his film. "That Boycott Bollywood... Boycott Aamir Khan... Boycott Laal Singh Chaddha... I feel sad also because a lot of people who are saying this in their hearts believe I am someone who doesn't like India... In their hearts, they believe that... And that's quite untrue. I really love the country... That`s how I am. It is rather unfortunate that some people feel that way. I want to assure everyone that it's not the case so please don't boycott my films, please watch my films," Aamir told Mumbai media recently.

Aamir's Laal Singh Chaddha is an official Hindi adaptation of the Academy Award-winning 1994 film Forrest Gump, which had Tom Hanks in the lead role. It is scheduled to release on August 11. South star Naga Chaitanya and Mona Singh are also a part of the film.