New Delhi, April 26 -- Bollywood director Karan Johar has publicly criticised the Hindi film industry's heavy reliance on paid publicity, saying stars should let their work speak for itself rather than flood social media and media platforms with curated campaigns.

Karan Johar made the remarks in a recent interview with The Week, where he was asked about new marketing styles used by actors such as Janhvi Kapoor and Shanaya Kapoor during the promotion of their films Param Sundari and Tu Yaa Main. He used the moment to launch a broader critique of how Bollywood now handles publicity, questioning whether viewer reactions are genuine or simply paid for.

During the conversation, Johar said, "I think Bollywood should stop doing PR. It will be ...