Ban on film reviews: Tamil film producers move to HC amid poor box office of Kanguva, Indian 2, Vettaiyan

The Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) has filed a writ petition in Madras High Court seeking a three-day ban on movie reviews after their theatrical release. Earlier, TFAPA condemned “tasteless movie reviews” that impacted the performance of movies like Kanguva, Indian 2, and Vettaiyan.

The writ petition has been filed through counsel Vijayan Subramanian and is set to be heard by Justice S. Sounthar on Tuesday, December 3, reported Hindustan Times. The petition has sought a direction from the Centre and the State government to frame guidelines which will also be applicable to online film critics reviewing the movie on social media platforms.

‘Personal attacks in the name of film review’: TFAPA

Before approaching the High Court, TFAPA had openly condemned the prevalent culture of online reviews on social media platforms, including X, YouTube, Instagram, etc.

“Personal attacks and incitement of hatred in the name of film review – #TFAPA Strongly condemns,” read TFAPA in a social media post.

In its letter, the council also urged theatre owners to prohibit YouTube channels from covering public reviews inside theatre premises.

Tamil Nadu producers demand ban on YouTubers

In its letter, the council demanded a ban on YouTubers in the theatres. The council made it clear that critics have the right to review movies but journalists should avoid sowing “hatred towards a film” in the media because of “personal malice”, reported HT citing the letter.

“Critics have every right to review movies. But we request all journalists to write film reviews keeping in mind that hatred towards a film should not be sown in the media because of personal malice. It is imperative that all the associations related to the film industry unite and stop this practice by not encouraging them anymore.” read the excerpts of the letter, according to HT.

Dismal performance of Kanguva, Indian 2

Actor Suriya’s action movie Kanguva was one of his fans’ much-awaited movies. Despite a decent opening, the movie failed to perform as per the moviemaker’s expectations. Kanguva received negative reviews from social media influencers, which industry tracker Sacnilk declared “one of the biggest disasters in Tamil cinema history” after it received a disastrous reception from moviegoers and critics upon release.

 Kamal Hassan’s Indian 2 made a poor start in theatres in the first week, failing to cross the ₹100 crore mark domestically in the first five days, reported the Indian Express in July.