Exclusive - YouTube Reviews Have Become Tools For Vested Interests: Tamil Producer G Dhananjayan

The Tamil Nadu Producers Council (TNPC) on November 20 issued a directive to theatre owners in Tamil Nadu to ban YouTube channels from conducting audience interviews on theatre premises after first-day-first-show (FDFS) screenings. It has also expressed its strong objection to public reviews and opinions shared immediately after FDFS (first day first show) screenings.

The TNPC highlighted the growing issue of "personal attacks and the incitement of hatred under the guise of film reviews." The Council pointed out that the movies such as Kamal Haasan's Indian 2, Rajinikanth's Vettaiyan and Suriya's latest movie Kanguva was hit badly by such public reviews.

While it has no objections to journalists doing movie reviews, it has stressed on combating the negative campaigns deliberately carried out to undermine a movie. "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. All associations related to the film industry must unite to stop this practice by not encouraging it anymore," read an excerpt from the letter.

Prominent producer and distributor G Dhananjayan, a vocal advocate for restricting YouTube reviews in cinema halls, shared his thoughts on the matter with Oneindia.

Q: The Tamil Nadu Producers Council has called for a ban on YouTube reviews at theatres. What are your views?

This is a request made to the Theatre Owners Association to address the misuse of audience interviews by certain YouTube channels. While such reviews initially helped promote films, they have now become tools for vested interests to target and harm films. People are often planted to give highly negative feedback, directly attacking producers, directors, and actors. A genuine audience member typically shares balanced opinions-whether they liked a film or not. But these motivated, malicious statements disguised as audience views must stop, and theatre owners have agreed to implement this.

Q: Do you think theatre owners will cooperate, and is it feasible to implement this ban?

Yes, theatre owners have already agreed to this and are working on making it operational. While it may take some time to enforce fully, the Theatre Owners Association and TNPC are committed to seeing this through. We intended to start this policy after Indian 2, but delays occurred. However, after witnessing the impact on films like Vettaiyan and Kanguva, it became imperative to act.

Q: What about concerns that this might infringe on freedom of speech?

Freedom of speech comes with responsibility. If someone wants to share their opinion on social media using their name, that's perfectly acceptable. However, presenting targeted, harmful opinions as unanimous audience feedback crosses a line, especially when it damages the livelihood of others. Consider this analogy: if a restaurant or service doesn't meet your expectations, would you organize a press conference outside to publicly bash them? No. You would express your concerns privately or on social media. Similarly, theatres are places of business, and such campaigns to malign films can't be justified as freedom of expression.

Q: Do you think this move will stop negativity, considering fan wars on social media?

Our goal is to ensure that audiences approach a film with an open mind, free from preconceived notions shaped by motivated negativity. If viewers enter with prejudiced opinions due to someone else's bias, their judgment is already skewed. We want word of mouth to develop organically, rather than allowing negativity to dominate and spread unfairly.