By Anil Merani: Have Priyanka Chahar Choudhary and Ankit Gupta decided to part ways? PriyAnkit’s recent act of unfollowing each other on social media, a modern-day public declaration of a breakup, indeed suggests so.
What further complicates this is that both are silent in the face of the media onslaught regarding it.
Instead of delving into the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of their relationship, which everyone else is already discussing, I find it more intriguing to explore the influence of social media on celebrity dynamics.
If the breakup news is confirmed, it would be yet another attempt by the celebs to control the narrative. Had they kept it private, some scoopy journalist might still have gotten the tea and posted it with all the salacious gossip.
But here, they might have controlled the washing of the dirty linen by just dropping hints and not giving out off-the-record dope about what and why
Even a subtle hint from the celebrities is enough to set the media and fans abuzz. It’s fascinating how one action can spark numerous articles and fan discussions, all driven by public speculation.
Today, celebs thrive on social media oxygen; silence is akin to death
hence, the buzz about a breakup is also good news. Fans need to get berserk.
Many celebs deliberately unfollow each other and then re-follow a few days later, seemingly to reassure fans and the media that ‘all is ok’. This strategy is often used to generate engagement for an upcoming project Can this be PriyAnkit’ attempt to flex their new series Terre Ho jaayein
Why announce a breakup publicly? The argument is that the media will eventually find out even if the celebs remain silent. So, why not ‘ride the wave’ of public attention and engagement?
Also, a lot depends on whether the unfollowing is unilateral or bilateral. If it is the latter (more or less the same time), it signals a joint venture (read damage control), but if one does and then the other does not (Bhavika Sharma and Avinash Mishra ), smell a rat.
Celeb take advantage of our Voyeuristic society and often box above thier weight. Ideally, why should we care about who our celebs date? Should not we not restrict ourselves to what they do on screen? But we love to know more and relish it with popcorn
No wonder they entice fans with tidbits and watch the drama from afar.
But celebs forget SM is a bloodthirsty tiger, which you can’t always ride with elan. Sometimes things flip; rivals or exes might drop some unfaltering info in the mix, making them look bad. Every relationship has murky moments, and celebs would always love to focus on picture-perfect moments and not trouble with a capital T.
