No Use Complaining About Movie Reviews

At a recent success meet of the film Band Melam, many actors and the director spoke about one common issue. They complained that movie reviews are damaging films. Some said reviews are like writing a death sentence for a movie. One actor even asked producer Kona Venkat why review writers were not “managed.” Another young actor suggested that reviewers should wait three days before giving reviews.

These complaints came mainly because the movie did not get strong positive talk outside. But this thinking is not completely correct. Reviews, whether positive or negative, usually try to analyze a film honestly. If reviewers write false things, people will easily find out. So, believing that audiences blindly follow reviews and avoid theatres is not true.

There are many examples to understand this. When the first part of Dhurandhar released, a popular Bollywood critic gave a negative review. But later, when the film succeeded, the critic quietly deleted that review and stayed away from the second part. This shows that if a movie has strong content, no review can stop it from becoming a hit.

Movies like Balagam and Little Hearts became successful not because reviews were managed, but because they were genuinely good films. Even big films like Waltair Veerayya and Devara received mixed reviews, but still became big hits. This clearly proves that audience decision depends more on content than reviews.

On the other hand, some films fail not because of reviews but due to weak content. For example, recent films like Ustaad Bhagat Singh and small-budget movies like Funky did not perform well because they failed to impress the audience.

So, instead of blaming reviewers, filmmakers should focus on making better movies. As producer Bekkem Venugopal said, everyone should do their own job. If a film is truly extraordinary, people will automatically support it on social media and in theatres.

That is why many netizens are now asking - if Band Melam is really a hit, why complain about reviews at all?