Fearing a copyright strike on his YouTube review of the Kannada movie Martin, a Kannada content creator avoided taking the movie’s name and addressed the film as Mortien, the popular pest control product. Reviewers and the film team have been at odds since the action thriller starring Dhruva Sarja hit theatres on October 11, 2024. The YouTube film-reviewing community has been the worst affected by the controversy.
Martin, directed by AP Arjun, got praise for its highly ambitious action set pieces, but the film drew flak for the loud characterisation of the protagonist, essayed by Dhruva Sarja. The film, released during the Dasara weekend, got a terrific opening but soon stirred up a row when several YouTube creators began to take down their negative reviews of the movie.
“I will never review a Kannada movie other than the films featuring the Shettys (Raj, Rishab and Rakshit) who have been forthcoming of praise and criticism,” wrote Anmol Jamwal on X. Anmol talks about cinema and reviews films on his channel Tried & Refused Productions, which has 1.22 million subscribers.
Bullish behaviour
Anmol received an E-mail from a company representing the film team. It demanded the removal of his review of Martin, which had a headline that read, “Worst film of 2024.”
“I consider the act from the makers as bullish,” Anmol tells The Hindu. “I got an intimation saying if I don’t delete my video, the makers will slap a copyright strike. I didn’t want to get into a mess, so I brought down the review from my channel,” he says, adding that such an incident had never transpired since he started his channel in 2015.
Dhruva Sarja in ‘Martin’.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Responding to the developments, Uday K Mehta, the film’s producer, says safeguarding his movie is his utmost priority. “I have got a John Doe order from the court to take legal action against anyone I feel is harming my film’s business,” he says. “Any content that works against the interest of the movie will face legal consequences, and as a producer, I must safeguard my movie,” he adds.
Shan Prasher, a popular YouTube reviewer from Canada, slammed Martin makers for failing to follow “YouTube etiquette.” Prasher’s review got hit by a copyright strike from the film team. “As per YouTube guidelines, one must send a warning before deciding to strike a copyright notice. What transpired in my case is nothing but abusing the system and curbing one’s freedom of expression. I have filed a counter-notification, and they (the makers) have ten days to respond,” he tells The Hindu.
Personal attacks
Producer Uday argues that Martin has faced the consequence of personal attacks. “One hero’s fans are against my film’s hero. So they are talking negatively about the movie. Some YouTubers have a vendetta against my film’s director. So they are attacking him personally in the name of movie reviews. Amidst this chaos, I have suffered the most as the producer,” he says.
Sudhakar Gowda, who runs a Kannada YouTube channel called Srushti Entertainers, complained about threat calls from fans of Dhruva Sarja after he posted a negative review of the movie. “Don’t I have the right to tell my opinion about a movie? I paid for the film ticket, so I have all the rights to talk about it,” he says in his video. In his review, Sudhakar says the film is a wannabe KGF and slammed Dhruva Sarja’s performance, calling it “over the top“.
Director A P Arjun stresses that he has nothing against YouTube reviewers. But, he claims that “paid reviews” are rampant in the industry, mentioning the review bombing controversy in the Malayalam film industry.
In 2023, a Malayalam film producer approached the court seeking a gag on social media and YouTube reviews of films for at least seven days following the film’s release. The Martin row occurred days after Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions decided to cancel pre-release screenings of its movies, allegedly fearing paid reviews.
Arjun finds YouTube reviews as “uninformed observations” of a movie. “Nobody wants to make a bad movie. If you, as a content creator, didn’t like a film, you ought to point it out objectively and make a concrete analysis. Crores of money is involved in making a movie. You can’t kill the film with your loose comments,” he opines, slamming those who roasted his movies.
Responsible reviewing vs roasts
Kairam Vaashi, a seasoned Kannada YouTube reviewer and film critic, says it’s understandable that those spending crores to make a film find it offensive when people roast their movie. “However, they must take the right steps in the legal purview and not use their power and position to bully creators to shut them up,” he adds.
Martin was subject to roasts from creators on YouTube. The Kannada film industry is averse to the concept. Kairam Vaashi feels a responsible review is always better than roasting. “A responsible review must never be banned. Reviews are beneficial for the art whereas roasts serve the interest of the creators but don’t help the film or the makers,” he offers.
Shan Prasher says his roasts mix intelligent criticism with good humour. “I am against personal attacks and below-the-belt humour. I have roasted the biggest of Bollywood films but never faced any issue.”
There seems to be no one solution to the issue as many on social media demanded Martin’s makers to accept feedback graciously. On the other hand, some felt there must soon be a middle ground between critics and filmmakers.
Published – October 17, 2024 03:48 pm IST
