For all the glowing
reviews Titli received from our lead
critics, the first day collection of the film was just 50 lacs. Granted that
the film is shot on a shoe string budget on real locations with newcomers and
revenue of a crore for a production like this is more than satisfactory but the
poor results raise many questions. The foremost being can reviews/ critics
alter the fate of a film and the answer is no.
It is coincidence that
renowned criti Peter Bradshaw at a workshop held for Jio MAMI 2015 elaborated
on the very same points. Bradshaw recommended that it is important for
reviewers to retain their innocence in the theatres and not get carried away by
the analysis of the film. He emphasized that it is not about getting a review
right all the time but about engaging and involving your reader/ viewer. In
many ways a review of a film is like a film and if the reviewer is not engaged
in what he is writing/ speaking the reader/ viewer is not going to be involved
too.
Bradshaw said that most
reviewers feel isolated when their opinion or ratings are not in sync with the
other critics, they don’t have to feel apologetic. He said the sad part is that
not only do most of the reviews lack original opinions but also are dull and
matter of fact, which should not be because cinema is about passion.
Bradshaw was dismissive
about his popularity and that so many people around the world watch films only after reading him and attributed his success to the reach of Hollywood, the
internet culture and the fact that his medium was English. He said he was the
beneficiary of a new revolution.
In a final question to
how important is a critic to cinema his answer was revelatory, he said ‘Not at
all. In the final analysis it is filmmakers who will be remembered not critics'.
@bhawanasomaaya
