India’s toxic fan culture

India is a country with rich cultural diversity and vibrant traditions where sports and entertainment hold a special place in the hearts of millions. However, behind this fandom there lies a darker side, a toxic fan culture that has seeped into sports, the film industry and even politics. The harmful aspects of India's toxic fan culture will be explored, examining the impact it has on individuals and societies.

The advent of social media platforms like facebook, instagram, twitter has significantly contributed to the intensification of fan culture. Unfortunately, this increase in connectivity has also given rise to toxic behaviour. There are various fan clubs, where they defend the celebrities or they pass on threats if someone opposes their opinion. An example of an actor facing intense trolling is Amir Khan. He was massively criticised for the movie “Thugs of Hindustan” which turned into aggressive trolling. This can impact the celebrities mental health.

The author Shrayana Bhattacharya interviewed many womens who worshipped Shah Rukh Khan for her book: Desperately seeking Shah Rukh: India’s lonely young women and the search for intimacy and independence. The book depicted how womens from different sectors worshipped Shahrukh khan to escape from reality, to get rid of problems for a few hours. Research has also shown that people who are suffering from pain are usually more vulnerable and tend to worship celebrities. The kind of relationship where the person feels a sense of connection to the celebrity but the celebrity is not aware of the individual's existence.This one-sided relationship is called a para-social relationship. By maintaining the para-social relationship, the person finds a way to escape from the harsh reality that an individual might be living in or going through. Not all fans show a parasocial relationship. Fans who feel intensely connected with a celebrity’s real and reel life and they feel like they are owed something by the celebrity. Now, many might question whether parasocial relationships are good or bad? It's difficult to say as it can help a person to boost self-confidence and to escape from loneliness. On the other hand, it can also lead to severe anxiety as the person can replace real life relationships with the parasocial ones as a distraction due to comfort. Rajnikanth, the superstar in Tamil film industry has a massive fan following. His fans promote and celebrate his on-screen personas and eagerly await his films, demonstrating the significance of the parasocial relationships within his fandom. There are various other celebrities whose fandom consists of parasocial relationships. Nowadays, celebrities themselves try to maintain a relationship with their fans and social media are perfect platforms where parasocial relationships can be promoted. Frequent interactions through social media platforms can create a feeling of attachment towards the celebrity. This kind of parasocial relationship helps in endorsement, promoting films. In certain cases, the team of celebrities themselve maintain a cordial relationship with the fans to create a sense of connection among them. However, parasocial relationships can have a negative impact on the industry. Sushant Singh Rajput’s untimely death in June 2020 lead to outpouring of grief from fans and triggered intense discussions on social media, Various speculations, rumours and many specific individuals from the film industry were blamed. The intense relationship which the people had developed with Sushant Singh Rajput led into personal attacks on actors and filmmakers, resulting in negativity. The incident’s media coverage contributed to the exaggeration of the parasocial relationships' negative effect. The narrative's toxicity was exaggerated by sensationalist reporting and the spread of unfounded conspiracy theories. This shows how a parasocial relationship when taken to an extreme level can lead to a range of negative consequences including online harassment.

Although fandom can foster joy and a sense of community, the positive qualities of the fandom have been tarnished due to the toxic fan culture. The negative behaviour that invaded fan networks must be acknowledged and addressed by the industry and fans. The only way to make India’s fan culture a force for good is to promote an atmosphere of decency, candid communication and acceptance.