KOCHI: The government pleader on Tuesday informed the Kerala High Court that the state police chief and the other state machinery will hold discussions with all stakeholders involved in the film industry, including producers, directors and financiers to formulate modalities of controlling calculated and motivated movie reviews.
The submission was made when the petitions filed by the Kerala Film Producers Association and Mubeen Rauf, a director, seeking to regulate the film reviews on online platforms came up for hearing.
Justice Devan Ramachandran made it clear that the court has not issued any order that there should be no review within seven days of the film’s release. “There is a situation where you can do anything if you have a phone in your hand. Only vloggers who intend to black through their film reviews would fear the court order. The film industry should not be destroyed due to ‘review bombing’, said the court.
The court pointed out, “Certainly, when a protocol has been called for by the court to be suggested by the state police chief, it is intended as a general one, to apply in future against all illegal tendencies. It surely will take some time to be properly drafted and settled.” The state police chief should also be cognizant, that there is a marked difference between a professional review and one which is professed to be so, and a personal opinion about a product, including a movie, said the court.
Senior advocate Sudhi Vasudevan, counsel for the producers association, pointed out that in its petition, the Bureau of Indian Standard published the principles and requirements for the collection, moderation and publication of Online Consumer Reviews. He sought a directive from the Union government to take necessary action.