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A lot of talk is brewing in the film industry around the topic of movie reviews in Malayalam cinema. Director Rosshan Andrews remains adamant that those who tear up a film on the first day of its release are sadists. He believes that one can criticize a film constructively, but when it becomes a personal attack, it ceases to be a film review. Rosshan Andrews, who has been in the industry for 17 years, won state awards for his first three films.
When Tamil superstar Suriya ventured into production, his first film (36 Vayadhinile) was directed by Roshan Andrews. The director, who is in Mumbai for a new Hindi film starring Shahid Kapoor, explains the new trends in paid review.
Your comments on film criticism received a lot of criticism. An audience that spends money to see a movie has every right to criticize it, right?
I have survived in this industry for the last 17 years only because of the support of the audience. I have never said anything about the critical views of the audience against a particular film. Some have simply twisted an opinion I shared in an interview on a YouTube channel during the promotion of Saturday Night Live. I have not criticized the respectable public of Kerala. I was talking about the bad movie reviews. I asked if those reviewing had ever written a story. Is the pacing of the film decided by a reviewer? The language and style they use is so unconventional. They only have a sneer at everyone. Let them read the reviews by Anupama Chopra and Baradwaj Rangan. Once upon a time there was Kozhikodan and Chinik who did beautiful movie reviews. We have a quote gang here. I know of people who blackmail producers for money by threatening to post a negative review. There are people who take 2 lakh and post positive reviews on Twitter.
We have this tendency to ask for opinions during the movie interval….
YouTube reviewers invade the room to solicit the audience’s opinion. Then there will be people who can say positive and negative things about a movie. Some show this to manufacturers and blackmail them. If they don’t give money, they will only show those who caused the audience to speak negatively about the film. Theater owners should ban such people from entering the theaters. Those who come during the interval will start appearing when the film starts and will even do a live preview in the future. We have to ignore those who approach us with microphones on the first day of the film. I asked producer and theater owner Antony Perumbavur to ban such people.
The important thing is to understand the difference between a review and a critique, right?
Reviews and criticisms are different. Earlier papers had good reviews. These were not personal attacks, just constructive criticism. This is where people show their disappointment that they didn’t make it into movies. They are sadists. I don’t want them to rate/rating my movie. Who gave them the power to rate a movie? Those looking to monetize YouTube need to stop butchering movies for a living. Those people who indulge in personal attacks should be banned. They don’t need to review a movie under the guise of being public speakers.
I didn’t say that all YouTube movie reviewers in Kerala are bad. They are the ones who give constructive criticism. But they are very few in number.
You said they don’t criticize movies in Korea?
“Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho, after winning the Oscar, dedicated it to the people of his country. The people who promote good movies in Korea are its people. Cinema is their biggest source of entertainment. They will never think of destroying it. They don’t destroy a movie through movie reviews. The biggest source of encouragement for Korean cinema comes from its people. I just pointed it out. How is that wrong?
How can you claim you need to learn academic cinema to review a film?
No director will tell the audience to study cinema academically before criticizing it. What superstar Mohanlal and Anjali Menon said was right. They did not criticize or mock the audience. Anjali Menon has done some great movies in Malayalam and what she said was right. The pace of the narrative is determined by the director. Alphonse Putren is a famous Indian director. If Messi’s game is bad, you criticize his game, not his character.
It is said that setbacks often lead to such outbursts by directors…
From ‘Udayananu Tharam’ to ‘Saturday Night’ I have done 12 films. Of these 3 were failures. And the rest were either hits or blockbusters. “Casanova,” “Saturday Night” and “School Bus” are the failures. When The Notebook was released, it was said that the film would be a flop. But the audience accepted it. I cannot predict the success of a film. If so, I’d be producing my own movies, right? I would like to be known as someone who has made different and experimental films. And I hope to continue to do so. I am a person who comes from a very ordinary family who had to struggle a lot to get to the cinema. Again, I will continue to make the films that I like. And I make films that I personally enjoy watching. I have confidence that I will find a producer or an actor for it. Let those who criticize continue to do so.
Have you ever been asked to pay for a review?
When my film Mumbai Police released, a reviewer pocketed Rs 25,000 from my producer. He threatened to reveal the fact that Prithviraj was gay in the film if the money was not paid. I found out about this very late. When they released How Old Are You, the same guy asked for money. Even a malayalam channel revealed the climax of ‘Mumbai Police’ on day 1. I called the main man of that channel. He replied that even he too has to broadcast his programme.
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