Now, Tamil Producers Approach Madras HC Seeking Ban On Movie Reviews

Weeks after urging theatre owners to ban YouTube reviews in its premises, the Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) has now approached the Madras High Court seeking a ban on movie reviews for three days, The Hindu reports.

In its writ petition, the producers' guild has sought a direction to the Centre as well as the State government to ban review of movies for three days on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and X.

The petition, filed through its counsel Vijayan Subramanian, will come up for hearing today. It has sought guidelines for online critics for reviewing films.

In a recent statement, the producers association had come down heavily on the YouTubers and sought a ban on entries in cinema halls.

Speaking to The Times of India, TFAPA general secretary T Siva said, "A review should be a view rather than an individual attack. These days, people hold vengeance against a particular movie or star, get personal, and say no one should watch the film. This cannot be considered a review. If you terribly bash a brand's product, they would not be quiet and would, in turn, take a legal route."

The decision was taken after Suriya's Kanguva came under severe attack from netizens.

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.

Speaking to Oneindia on the issue, producer Dhananjayan Govind said, "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."