Are Movie Reviewers destroying the Indian Film Industry?

With Jio's disruption in the broadband industry, Youtube and Instagram exploded with Creators in lifestyle, Relatable Comedy and Film genres. Youtube that has seen seasoned veterans like Bharathwaj Rangan and Sudhir Srinivasan reviewing films for decades, also welcomed young film critiques who play who use humour as a tool to review films.

Master FDFS

However, audience seeking relatable content to kill time turned to these reviewers for entertainment with zero intention to learn about the film. These views were funny, lewd, pumped with meme references which made them share-worthy. This led to many Indian films like Retro, Thug Life and War 2.

Along with this, the need to know the fate of a film on the first day led to many Youtube Channels huddling around popular theatres in Chennai like Sathyam, Rohini, Albert and Vetri Theatre. The videos of FDFS watchers were shot, edited and posted the same day. This elevated the films with positive reviews, including small budget films like Tourist Family, Lokah Chapter 1 and Dragon.

Jothika's Instagram Post supporting the Makers of Kanguva

However, the question remains - How often the audience seek this information to book cinema tickets or is it just a way to amuse themselves over tea with their friends ? Suriya starring Kanguva had become the biggest disappointment for his fans in 2024. However, the memes around the film forced the actor's wife to step into the gram on his behalf and defend the whole team.

Is there a toxic layer to this audience curiosity where they eagerly wait for a misstep to celebrate a star's failure?

FDFS interviews

Though Producer Council has requested theatre owners to stop FDFS interview charade, theatres continue to welcome media houses to engage with their audience as this is an added publicity to the theatre groups. With this constant tussle between the makers and watchers, there is a silent message that is missed out by all parties.

With the audience celebrating small budget films with good stories, are they trying to convey to their stars that they are tired of the media hype ? Is this a sign of deference from the audience asking the film industry to concentrate on their stories over publicity around the film? With the Information Overload on Youtube and Instagram, is Low-key promotion the way to go?

As Filmmakers continue to manoeuvre through this chaos, "small films with good stories" are thankful to these reviewers for being their the word-of-mouth ambassadors.