Filmmaker Rosshan Andrrews thinks that before criticising a movie, one should introspect whether they are qualified to do that. He noted that the audience in countries like Korea do not criticise movies. He made his stand clear, in an interview to the ‘Editorial’ channel.

“Around 140 – 150 families depend on a film’s set to earn their living. From the ordinary worker who pastes the posters to the artists, around 2500 families live, depending on the cinema industry. Have you seen anyone criticising films in Korea? They only highlight the positive sides of it. But, here, people destroy a movie by maligning it. It is alright to criticise but, are you also eligible to do that?

Now, we would see people waiting outside the cinema hall with mikes, after the first half, waiting for the audience’s comments. The audience may be admirers of the actors or not. They would start dissecting the movie even before it gets over. Besides, now, everyone browses in the Youtube for reviews before going for a movie. I don’t remember anything like this in the olden days.

The media should avoid asking audience’s opinions at the theatres at least on the first three days. Let people watch the movie.; and let the producer get the returns! This is a medium of entertainment. You applaud a fiction just as you applaud a play. Do you burn a book if you don’t like it? You would just keep it aside, right? So, my request is not to ‘burn’ the films too.

You can criticise the movie, but do not kill it. Before criticising one should think about whether they are qualified for that. You should think about whether you have written a story or a screenplay before. You should ask yourself whether it is the frustration of not being able to do all these is making you destroy a movie.

When Sidhique – Lal’s ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ was released, no one went to the theatres to watch it in the first few days. Later, it went on to become one of the biggest hits of Malayalam cinema. However, now, things have changed. A film cannot recover if audience do not come to the theatres in the first few days. So, when a film is destroyed like that, you are actually slamming 1500 families. From the producer to the crew members, you are then disregarding a lot of people,” said Rosshan. 

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