The Kerala High Court is of the opinion that "motivated and calculated" movie reviews must be discouraged and criminalized. On the other hand, professional movie reviews have to be allowed.
The HC made the observations in connection with a petition filed by a Mollywood filmmaker weeks ago. The court is of the firm view that some reviews are written with the sole aim of extorting money or blackmailing filmmakers.
The court wants the Kerala government to frame rules to curb "motivated and calculated reviews".
How will the government be able to execute those rules? Ideally, the government should have nothing to do with film reviews unless a producer or an actor or a technician approaches the police/court with a specific complaint against a reviewer. It is impossible to legally establish whether a review is motivated just by reading it. And if there is proof of blackmail, such things are grey. A publication can always deny the 'blackmail' allegation by saying that it was a marketing pitch, not extortion. Looks like the rules determining the contours of movie reviews will end up harassing film critics.
