On Tuesday, the Madras HC court, in response to the Tamil Film Active Producers Association's (TFAPA) plea seeking to ban film reviews online for three days after the release, has refused to entertain the request. A written petition was filed with the court by TFAPA that reviews of a film, especially the negative ones should not be posed online or on social media within three days of release, citing that it might hamper the film's performances in theatres.

Madras HC refuses TFAPA plea on review ban- a timeline of events

It all started with the releases of films like Indian 2 and Kanguva, which were major star releases (featuring Kamal Haasan and Suriya respectively), this year. The film, even though made on a huge scale and had star names associated with the projects, failed to impress the audience and garnered negative reviews. Indian 2 and Kanguva became a subject of troll material on social media, which subsequently severely impacted the trade of box office. The unanimous negative and poor responses for these films were affected by the review culture among media, which cashes on getting the earliest responses from audience who watch the first shows.

With Kanguva and Indian 2 not receiving favourable response majorly, the trickle-down effect impacted the box office collections. To tackle this, TFAPA filed a petition with Madras HC seeking a ban in reviews on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, X, and Facebook for three days from a film’s release. The producers’ association wanted the direction from state and central governments.

What did the court respond?

The Madras HC court cited that a review is a personal opinion of an individual and curbing that would mean to revoking the freedom of expression right, as granted by the country’s laws. However, taking the concern of the producers, the Madras HC suggested that a police complaint can be filed if one’s opinions amount to spreading malicious and defaming comments. The court further ordered the governments to come up with regulation for film criticism.

It is to be noted that a while ago in November, Tamil Nadu Producers Council had issued a statement requesting theatre owners not to permit YouTube channels from recording reviews from moviegoers, inside their premises.

Kanguva becomes latest victim to film reviews 

The events transpired after the recent release of Suriya-starrer film Kanguva. The film opened to negative reviews, and subsequently affected the box office collection. While the makers fear the slander from audiences, many blame the unacceptance of film makers to accept criticism on their films.

Film criticism and filmmaking are two sides of the same coin, which are interdependent for their sustenance. While a section of people feel that makers should take responsibility when their movies don’t do well with audience and accept criticism, the film fraternity feels that sometimes reviews tend to become slanders and personal attacks, that does not come under the purview of film criticism and reviewing.

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