Key Points
With the television boom at the turn of the century, Indian news channels began sending reporters to theatres to get viewers' reactions as they emerged from early shows of a film..
With the advent of social media, however, came the bizarre trend of news websites assigning journalists to do what are called 'live reviews' from movie halls...
First, Mubeen Rouf, director of the Malayalam film Aaromalinde Adhyathe Pranayam (Aaromal's First Love), petitioned the Kerala High Court to prevent influencers and vloggers from publishing reviews on social media for at least seven days after his film's release..
It is ironic that producers have themselves adopted the idea of vox pops and live reviews to publicise their films with the help of nameless, faceless social media armies and recognisable influencers, but are now crying foul of methods they have encouraged and the Frankenstein's monsters their industry has created...
Allegations made by filmmakers against social media influencers should also generate a discussion about who is responsible for building up these entities in the first place..
