Hindi
film `Chup’ directed by R Balki has won five star rating from critics but the
box office numbers are a disappointment. As the movie deals partly with a topic
of film criticism and its impact on film goers and creators, it would not be a
major embarrassment if the critics had given Baki a single star. The person who
benefited most from Chup was Dulquer Salmaan as the Bollywood critics found him
to be good actor.
Chup
subject that is about film criticism and critics, is very relevant. The common
refrain that I get is that your generation put across the good and bad of a
film in a way that it did not drive away the audience. Now the platform of
print media has been pushed back and comes in YouTube reviewers. Film Producers
and Directors in Chennai- Kochi are crying saying that their films bombed
because of bad reviews. It is not any
newbie director or actor crying .Gautham Menon while cutting the celebration cake
of YTK success meet tells the media who came to cover this – These reviewers
are spoiling our bread and butter and on twiiter he talks like a Don to a film
critic. Vishal as Actor’s Body President wanted producer’s council to impose an
embargo on reviews for three days from release of a film.
Now
another lethal gang of film critics have arrived. Apart from reviewing the
film, in coming days they spin off collection figures to show it is a profit.
Producers say this breed is more harmful than the critics. Producers believe
that if an analyst's box office collection co say that a film is a flop in
opening weekend, then those fence sitters decide to dump the movie with low
attendance. In Kerala, there is a sizable number of independent box office
trackers and in Chennai, it is limited to two or three.
I
happened to read the review in The New Indian Expresss about Chup. The reviewer
writes - “This is
all, of course, an exaggeration. Who would kill a film critic?” wonders Sunny
Deol’s investigative cop at one point. The sad (yet wholly realistic) answer is
that no one, absolutely no one would kill a film critic. We don’t matter and
that’s just the way it is”.
The answer is that the media that he is
writing for shuld have a readership. If a trade analyst account has lakhs of
followers , reviews do matter. Otherwise Why would Ranbir Kapoor soon after the
Brahmastra trade report was put out see
that the trade analyst account get blocked ?. A great actor like Mohalal who
faced brickbats for his film Marrakar went on record asking questions like What
do critics know of cinema – Do they know
about editing?, he asked.
In
Kerala, any negative review is called planned degrading. Counter promotions too
take place. Take the case of Dulquer Salmaan (antagonist in Chup) when Sita
RamamTelugu dubbed Malayalam version got released in Kerala, weekend went
almost empty. Dulquer thought had he had a fan base that would go gaga over any
film of his. YouTubers who are DQ fans
chided fan clubs for deserting the film. Next, we get shots of a few cars
outside a theater and saying stock lines – Family crowds have accepted it and
so all evening and night shows are full. They kept away from the practice of
showing the crowds at the café inside or coming out. Next, we hear it has
broken records set by any dubbed Malayalam film in Kerala.
Though
Chup deals with written words, the scenario today is the spoken word. First Day
First Show viewer’s comments on YT sites that are free from rigging, no holds
reviews loaded with sarcasm and those who without these tools call a spade a
spade. YT sites on the payroll and those who are run by fans too join in to get
the ear but viewers see through this game. Take the case of Ajith’s Vallimai.
Except for pro Ajith YT sites, it was slammed but the film is considered a hit
by Producer. That has been the case with Vijay’s Beast and Rajinikanth’s
Annaatthe. At the same time, STR’s Maanaadu and Kamal Hassan’s Vikram was
critically acclaimed and box office blockbusters. Such cases of film critics
and viewers on the same page is rare.
So, does
print media reviews not have any role? To put it plainly, NO. The mainstream
newspapers in Chennai, hub of multiplexes put out reviews that are mostly a
watered-down view and sort of a tight rope walking. Why? Film Advertisements,
no doubt. What about newspapers, where the advertisements do not come? The INE critic comment applies here - We don’t matter and that’s just the way it
is.
Let us
move to box office trackers in Chennai- Kochi. I have yet to see anybody like
Taran Adarsh (Mumbai) who puts out authentic box office figures. A very few
really come with real story and all others are just putting out the handouts by
producer – actor PR men and in a great hurry to push it to the Rs 100 crore
club. Most of these
Inflated
figures given out by this industry trackers lead to a cake cutting event
covered by media and to tell all have won. The trackers have pocketed the money
and moved on. An average viewer who logs into a Book My Show site to book a
ticket for a film that celebrated a success on third day of release will see
that the film is not on the booking chart. Ponniyin Selvam wotldwide gross is
Rs200 crores puts out Producer. Trade analyst says it is Rs 230 crores.!!!
Let's
move to Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Mohanlal advised the
Kerala film press – Look at Telugu film press. They are fully supportive of
films and that is why the industry is big and growing. Truth is that the growth
story of Tollywood has no link to film criticism. Only difference from Tamil-
Malayalam is that the criticism is not as harsh
but all the same, bad films are
called bad and films do flop in Tollywood and with rapid succession. For one
film success, twenty fade away on a weekend.
I
remember S S Rajamouli speaking at IIT Madras. He said that those days were
gone when Gudipudi Srihari, the critic wrote about a film’s good point and what
went wrong. He called the current lot as half-baked critics. He openly stated
that it was the audience view that was above a critic as they came to see a
film and like it. The critic came to find faults with the film,e pointed. This
comment on stage came soon after Baahubali 1 had released. Chiranjeevi films
were till the other day -all mass films and entertainers that Telugu moviegoers
were waiting to see. But after, Acharya
bombed and all changed YouTubers mauled
it badly. At the same time, Balakrishna’s Akhanda which was torn to pieces by
critics but was the biggest blockbuster.
Sai Pallavi’s Gargi was critic’s favorite and it sank without a trace.
Kannada
film critics have no major tussle with the industry as such. Kannada film
reviews are not very harsh and generally gloss over bad films. After KGF,
English press or the so-called National media started looking towards Kannada
movies and now they are ones that are slamming them. For KGF 2, Indian Express
gave it 1.5 stars and NDTV 2 stars. A Kannada film Kantera which less known has
caught the national media /
After
the South films like Baahubali KGF franchise to RRR being hits in Bollywood,
there is an entire new set of YouTuber critics in Mumbai who just waiting to
slam any Hindi film and hail every South film ( dubbed) releasing in Mumbai as
` record breaking opening’. PS` has got all the right stars but Hindi audience
is not biting it. A Hindi remake of Tamil film Vikram Vedha oo with Hrithik –
Saif Ali Khan is not working either Prabhas Adipursh teaser in Hindi has people asking
whether it is comic book strip. In my school- college days, I used to hear `
learned’ film folk talk about M Krishnan Nair and a Kozhikodan review
Later as
Screen correspondent, I had the job to negotiate with Kerala Film Chamber to
get advertisements at a mutually agreed rate. The deal was struck and
advertisements came in. Now Kochi edition of IE was not getting film
advertisements and I was asked to deal with it. Chamber had two options- write good reviews or do not
write reviews. Madras office asked Kochi
to stop reviews and start accepting advertisements and carry film news given by
film PRO’s. This is my contribution to film criticism.
