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An actor’s opinion about the country’s situation or a frivolous joke on Koffee with Karan? An apparent use of one’s privilege, an out of context movie scene or — bizarrely even– a tweet? The Hindi film industry, which is struggling with poor box office results against an unprecedented negative wave, Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan being the recent examples, knows the answer: Everything. Artistes are not new to backlash. Movie stars and influential filmmakers have often found themselves in the middle of the storm, but seldom has the displeasure cemented into a systemic hate against the entire film industry, the way it stands today. This year, in particular, has been rough on the industry as it not only saw the crushing failure of almost all its biggies, but also remained a mute spectator to the social media boycott trends against most of its major films: From Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi, Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera to all three of Akshay Kumar films – Bachchhan Paandey, Samrat Prithviraj and Raksha Bandhan. Barring Gangubai Kathiawadi, all films sank without a trace, fueling the perception that boycott calls managed to transition from virtual hashtags to the real world, plummeting every film in its way to the ground.