YouTuber Dhruv Rathee on Monday released a new video countering what he described as fake and misleading claims following his criticism of director Aditya Dhar’s film Dhurandhar, starring Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna.
Rathee shared the video on X with the caption, “The meltdown after my Dhurandhar video. Also see the actual like-dislike ratio.
In the clip, he alleged that a coordinated campaign was launched to mass-dislike and post negative comments on his earlier video reviewing the film. He also alleged that director Aditya Dhar is "a BJP sycophant and a propagandist filmmaker".
"“Inke naye favourite filmmaker, director Aditya Dhar ka level bhi ab hum logon ko samajh aa gaya hai. Woh bhi Vivek Agnihotri ki tarah BJP ke chaatukar, propagandist filmmaker hain,” YouTuber said.
Rathee claimed that organised groups urged people across platforms such as WhatsApp, Reddit and X to dislike and report the video. He also alleged that several BJP-affiliated social media accounts amplified screenshots highlighting dislikes and negative comments to create a false perception of widespread backlash.
Addressing the trolling, Rathee said he enabled a setting requiring users to be subscribers before commenting, which, according to him, further angered critics. He dismissed accusations of curbing free speech, calling it a “troll tax” for those wishing to comment.
Rathee also shared screenshots from YouTube Studio to counter the claims, stating that despite the alleged campaign, around 90 per cent of viewers had liked the video, with likes significantly outnumbering dislikes. He argued that a small but coordinated group can often create the illusion of being a majority on social media.
The YouTuber further alleged that such tactics are commonly used to target celebrities and influencers, often pressuring them into deleting posts or videos. He added that data showed nearly 80 per cent of the video’s audience came from India, rejecting claims that support was driven by foreign viewers.
