When you Criticize the Critic

The movie industry in India suffers from many obstructions in its path. They face losses due to piracy, lack of government support, star-dominance and worst of all – The Critics. Why do we even need them? They probably are just a pain in the wrong place.

How many of us are movie philosophers really? How many times has it been that our opinion about a movie does not match another’s? A major chunk of movie-goers just go to watch a movie for entertainment on their weekend. Another bunch of people run after their favorite movie stars. Some are fond of history, art, literature and they wish to see specific movies catering to their tastes. The remaining lot – comprising of a very small percentage – go to watch movies just to criticize it. They wish to review the acting, the story, they look at deeper meanings in the movie. That is a very small bunch of people who actually require the review of a critic so that they money they spend is spent on something worthwhile.

I have witnessed instances when my friends change their plans of watching a newly released movie just because it got low ratings from a famous critic. There are multiple instances when I have enjoyed movies that were rated really low by critics. It appears I am just one of those who goes to a theater for entertainment and don’t care how much the movie focuses on reality or how good did the stars act. Our life does not change after watching a stupid movie for heaven’s sake! Why to do a post-mortem of them and reduce the revenue for people who had put some hard work into making it? Critics at times almost literally use abusive language to criticize a film’s direction or the way people acted in it.

Just take it easy with films friends. Do not quarrel with one another about how good or bad a movie is. A movie is not a visualized holy book. It is just there to help you while away your weekend. And most of all, don’t decide your weekend plans by relying on a goddamn critic!