Negative film reviews: High Court seeks explanation from Central, state governments

The Kerala High Court has sought an explanation from the Central and the state government on a petition to curb negative reviews by online vloggers on the day of the release of the film. Justice Devan Ramachandran's action was taken on a petition filed by Mubeen Rauf, the director of 'Aromalinte Adyathe Pranayam'. To assist the court, they have appointed Advocate Shyam Padman as amicus curiae.

The complainant has alleged that the vloggers are putting up negative reviews without even watching the film and that it negatively affects the film. He has also said that some vloggers are threatening to release negative reviews if they are not paid by the producers. Advocate CR Rakesh Sharma appeared on behalf of the complainant.

Cinema is the collaborative effort and dreams of a lot of people. Mubeen Rauf, whose film ‘Aromalinte Adyathe Pranayam’ released on October 6, has argued that it is cruel to write negative reviews of a film within minutes of its release on social media and there should be some restrictions on it.

Once upon a time, film criticism used to be a credible and reliable profession. But today anyone with a smartphone can destroy a film. The complainant says this situation should change. He also observed that it has now become commonplace to put negative reviews without watching a film and to extort money from producers and the crew before the release of the film so that they don’t publish a negative review. Therefore he has appealed the High court to ensure guidelines and restrictions for film reviews on social media.