Most people need a movie review like they need a nail trim at a salon. It’s an option and sure we love one but we can live without it. Ofcourse, you’d like an indication of some sort on what to expect of a movie. That’s fair. But don’t we have that well before it’s time for a review to hit all our senses via television, the Internet, newspapers, even mobile phones?
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Movie moghuls spend lakhs on promotions these days across the media. So you know who’s in the movie, who’s making it, the story line and the songs months before it’s release date. As the Friday in question draws close, the feverish promotional frenzy will include nuggets on the A-list designer roped in for the costumes, the advertising whizkid turned dialogue writer, the MBA dropout turned scriptwriter and more. All whetting our appetite or killing it as we view, listen, read about a film ad-nauseam. Anyway, piece all of it together and you have enough to make an educated guess about a film without watching it. You could be wrong but that’s another story. On the other hand, film reviews give us more detail than required. You certainly don’t need to be told the name of the killer in a whodunit for example. Yes, a popular website did that some years back with Race. Week after week, we meekly receive half-baked wisdom from a critic, who, am convinced, has a passing interest in movies and wants some time away from boring editorial duties.
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I really believe that the paying public is a better judge of cinema than people who get paid to critique it. Word of mouth is where it’s at. Skip the reviews for a bit and see how a friend or neighbour works for you. And there are enough who will read reviews if at all only after, yes after, they’ve watched a movie. So yes, ring that doorbell. You’ll never hear a neighbour who’s just returned from the cinemas, making a random, one-word pronouncement like trash, masala, avoidable, predictable, yawn and entertaining in the manner of a cliched movie review. Because words like these don’t mean a thing to her or you. She will passionately tell you why to either avoid, wait for DVD release or go now, now, NOW and proceed to give you details and insights that are hers and only hers. You may cringe at some of her off-takes and just may get more detail than required but surely you can cut her some slack especially if she serves a real, honest take on Lootera with warm phulkas and bhindi!
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Seetal Iyer is the co-founder and content head at http://www.timbremedia.in/ and one of the most well-loved radio voices for over 15 years and counting.