After the Kangoo fiasco, Tamil Nadu producers are demanding that YouTube channels be banned from cinemas

The Tamil Nadu Producers Council (TNPC) on Wednesday issued a strong statement demanding cinema owners to ban YouTube fan interviews on the premises of theaters after the First Day Shows (FDFS) and cooperate to cancel this public review and opinion of the FDFS. process completely. (Read also: Producer Kanguva’s wife says Disha Patani’s role in film was to ‘look pretty’, deletes comment after backlash)

In a long four-page letter, the Tamil Nadu Producers Council condemned “personal attacks and incitement of hatred in the name of film reviews”. They said movies like Indian 2 Vettayan and Kanguwa they were heavily influenced by YouTube’s public FDFS inspections.

What was stated in the letter

This letter comes after the November 14 release of Suriya Kanguva’s film, which drew a huge amount of negative feedback from viewers on the first day of YouTube reviews and opinion pieces. TNPC wrote that journalists have the right to criticize the flaws in the film and talk about the positive and negative sides, but no one can engage in personal attacks and try to destroy the entire film in their reviews. In their opinion, this will lead to the collapse of the film industry itself.

The letter also states: “Critics have every right to review films. But we ask all journalists to write film reviews, remembering that hatred of the film cannot be sown in the mass media because of personal malice. It is imperative that all associations related to the film industry come together and stop this practice by no longer encouraging it.”

More details

Kerala was the first state to impose this ban on YouTube views. In 2023, Mubin Rauf, director of Aromalinte Adyathe Pranayam, backed by the Producers Association, filed a lawsuit to ban YouTube reviewers from entering theaters because their negative videos were affecting the film business.

Following this, the Kerala High Court directed the relevant authorities to ban online film reviews by social media influencers, YouTube reviewers and bloggers within seven days of the film’s release.

The court went further and even issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification to lay down clear and transparent guidelines for online film critics and vloggers. Manufacturers believed the move would protect the industry.