Tollywood unites against online review manipulation

Tollywood has officially declared war on the “Review Mafia.” Riding on a court order to block ratings for Chiranjeevi’s latest release, the industry is bracing for a total digital reset. The legal victory has cleared the path for other Sankranti biggies headlined by Ravi Teja, Sharwanand and Naveen Polishetty respectively to follow suit and initiate the process of securing court-backed protections.

Happy to know hard work, dreams and money of many is protected in a way. Since the days of Dear Comrade, I first began to see the shocking politics of organised attacks. My voice all these years fell on deaf ears - I was told nobody can stop a good film. And every producer and director who then made a film with me soon realised the scale of the issue. I am glad it is now out in the open, and the court now recognises the threat to movies even starring someone as big and powerful as Megastar himself.

This will not solve the problem entirely, but it will become one less thing to worry about.- Vijay Deverakonda

I think it’s a good move, but we live in a democratic country, and social media has given everyone a voice. So, I’m not sure how much it’s really possible to control reviews and ratings. That said, audiences today rely heavily on social media, and different viewers respond to different genres. I’m not saying reviews on ticketing platforms are wrong, but they do have the power to influence films, sometimes even good ones, and there’s always a risk of manipulation.

I believe filmmakers and producers need to come together, hold multiple discussions, and develop serious, well-thought-out initiatives to address this issue — Venkatesh Maha, director

Today, online opinions often influence how an audience approaches a film even before watching it. Viewers should walk in with a neutral mindset. While negative or fake reviews may continue on social media and can’t really be controlled, a ticketing platform is different.

That’s the moment when people are actually spending money, and the ratings there can directly affect the decision to buy a ticket. In that sense, it’s a sensible step.

Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out in the long run, but for now, I see it as a positive decision.— Sashi Kiran Tikka, director

Ratings today are largely bought, especially on ticketing platforms, and that’s effectively the price attached to visibility. Disabling them is a corrective step.

Earlier, ratings were being manipulated — boosted for some films and deliberately brought down for others. This step could also make things easier for smaller films going forward. Removing ratings allows cinema to return to its most honest form of feedback: Word of mouth.

That’s how films once grew — people watched them, stepped out, and recommended them. In many ways, this brings things back to the roots.— Teja, director

Ticketing platforms should focus on selling tickets, not functioning as spaces for movie reviews.

Imagine a ticket counter staffer at a local theatre telling a customer, ‘This film is bad, do you still want a ticket?’ That would be wrong. Reviews in the initial days are often driven by hype, fan wars, or paid narratives, and they directly affect opening-day footfalls before audiences even get a fair chance to watch the film.

Cinema is inherently subjective. What doesn’t work for one viewer may deeply connect with another.

A booking platform should help audiences access films, not decide their fate. — Koushik Pegallapati, director

This move is ultimately beneficial for the industry. My film Tiger Nageswara Rao was severely affected by manipulated reviews. For instance, when The Kashmir Files released, it faced a wave of negative reviews that brought its rating down to 6–6.5, and later even lower. Managing the rating of a film becomes a constant challenge for us as producers. This court order will help curb baseless negativity online and protect revenues from losses.

Losses don’t just affect the producer, exhibitors and theatres are also impacted, as multiple stakeholders suffer when films underperform due to manipulated reviews.— Abhishek Agarwal, producer

- Inputs by Divya Shree and Shreya Varanasi