Madras HC refuses TFAPA’s plea to ban film reviews for 3 days
The Madras HC court, in response to the Tamil Film Active Producers Association’s (TFAPA) plea seeking to ban film reviews online for three days after the release, refused to entertain the request.
A written petition was filed with the court by TFAPA that reviews of a film, especially the negative ones should not be posed online or on social media within three days of release, citing that it might hamper the film’s performances in theatres.
With Kanguva and Indian 2 not receiving favorable responses majorly, the trickle-down effect impacted the box office collections.
To tackle this, TFAPA filed a petition with Madras HC seeking a ban on reviews on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, X, and Facebook for three days from a film’s release.
The producers’ association wanted the direction from state and central governments.
The Madras HC court cited that a review is a personal opinion of an individual and curbing that would mean revoking the freedom of expression right, as granted by the country’s laws.
However, taking the concern of the producers, the Madras HC suggested that a police complaint can be filed if one’s opinions amount to spreading malicious and defaming comments.
The court further ordered the governments to come up with regulations for film criticism.