An event organized by the team of Ramayana yesterday, September 26, was attended not only by the film’s actors and makers but also by global YouTube sensation MrBeast. With more than 517 million subscribers, his main channel is the most subscribed channel on YouTube. However, what was meant to be a high-profile promotional event ended up leaving several members of the media frustrated, with a number of prominent journalists even walking out in anger.

The confusion began even before the event. The invite was sent to members of the media on Friday, September 25, a day before the event. What raised eyebrows was that revised invites followed within a span of barely two hours, each mentioning a different timing. The first invite stated that the event would tentatively begin at 12:30 pm. Soon after, the media was informed that it would start at 12:00 pm. The call time was then changed to 1:00 pm, with the revised invite assuring journalists that the event would begin sharp at 1:30 pm. Accordingly, journalists, photographers, cameramen and paparazzi made their way to Film City, located far from the city’s central media hubs, and reached the venue around the prescribed time.

A journalist who attended the event told Bollywood Hungama, “The event didn’t begin at 1:30 pm, but we assumed that it would start by 2:00 pm or, at the most, 2:30 pm. The publicity team was unable to give us a proper answer regarding the reason for the delay or when the event would finally begin. It was only after 3:00 pm that we were informed that MrBeast’s flight from Bengaluru had been delayed and that was causing the hold-up.”

According to a report by India Today, when journalists questioned the lack of communication, members of the publicity team reportedly told the media that they were free to leave if they did not wish to wait. This reportedly angered several journalists, many of whom decided to stage a walkout.

The India Today report further stated that when Ranbir Kapoor was informed about journalists leaving, he remarked, “Aap logon ko jana hai toh chale jao.” However, the journalist who spoke to Bollywood Hungama stressed that Ranbir’s comment was not made arrogantly. He explained, “Ranbir didn’t mean it in an arrogant manner. When the journalists apprised him of the situation, he told them that if they felt like leaving, they could do so. Even Ranbir was irritated by the delay as he had arrived before the media. Sai Pallavi, too, had been present since morning and she also made her displeasure over the delay clear to the team.”

The journalist further claimed, “The PR team was kept in the dark by MrBeast’s team, which largely comprised foreigners. They were not giving proper and timely information about when he would land and reach the venue.”

A brief event after a very long wait

The event finally commenced at around 5:00 pm, that is, three-and-a-half hours after the promised 1:30 pm start. The media’s frustration might perhaps have subsided had the event turned out to be an elaborate or announcement-heavy affair. Instead, it concluded in barely 20 minutes, with no major new announcement being made. Moreover, except Ravie Dubey, no one from the team apologized for making the media wait endlessly.

Ranbir Kapoor, Namit Malhotra and Ravie Dubey were seen lifting the ‘Shiv Dhanush’, while MrBeast enthusiastically chanted “Jai Shri Ram”. The moments certainly made for striking photographs and social-media videos, but several journalists felt that making the media wait for hours for such a brief event was unreasonable.

The journalist remarked, “The event was held at Film City, which is around 5 kms away from the railway station and nearly 4 kms away from the nearest Metro station. If the makers knew that they had such a short event planned, they could easily have organized it in Juhu or Andheri. MrBeast could also have reached such a venue much faster from the airport.”

He continued, “By the end of it, everyone was exhausted. Many journalists had expected to be free by 2:00 or 2:30 pm, but the event wrapped up only around 5:20 pm. And imagine, many of them had left their homes at 11:00 am or 12 noon. For several people, it felt like their entire Saturday had gone to waste.”

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