The Kerala Police, in a first of its kind move, has registered a case for uploading negative movie reviews on social media. Director Ubaini Ebrahim, director of Rahel Makan Kora filed an FIR under section 385 (extortion) and section 120 (o) of the Kerala Police Act stating that reviewers deliberately tarnished his film with a motive to blackmail.
The accused include owner of film promotion firm Hains, social media reviewers Arun Tharanga, Aswanth Kok, Facebook account user anoopanu6165, social media handle soulmates55 and platforms YouTube and Facebook. On October 9, the Kerala High Court asked the State Police to act against vloggers and social media influencers, who deliberately post negative reviews.
Rauf had stated that no reviews of his movie Aromalinte Adya Pranayam be made on a public forum for the first seven days of the release. Kerala High Court also directed the State Police to curb review bombing. The Court in its ruling said that movies are a collective efforts of thousands of people including the producers, actors and directors.
Reportedly, several reviewers have gained monetary benefits after posting unfavourable reviews of Rahel Makan Kora, an hour after the movie released.
"It must, however, be specifically kept in mind by the State Police Chief that, what he is now being called to respond to, is regarding action only in. the cases of motivated and calculated reviews made solely to extort and blackmail; and not those which are made bona fide," the court said on October 9.
Talking to THE WEEK, filmmaker Don Palathara said, " I don’t see reviewers as an authority on deciding the quality of a film. With the emergence of Instagram and YouTube reviewers, things are getting too chaotic. There are only a bunch of reviewers who are actually equipped with the knowledge and openness to study various aspects of a new film and understand it in cultural and historical contexts. The recent popularity that most of today’s reviewers are getting is a phenomenon that unfortunately has less to do with the cinematic art and more with the business aspect of it. On the other hand, the recent ban on reviewers is an extreme measure. Freedom of speech is questioned here, one should be able to express their views about anything publicly."
