Jigra controversy | Critics demand ₹60,000 per tweet for paid movie reviews in Bollywood: Report

Dharma Productions has decided to discontinue pre-release screenings for critics, starting with the film Jigra, featuring Alia Bhatt.

This decision follows a series of events surrounding the film, including Internet rumours that Karan Johar allegedly took an unfinished script from director Vasan Bala and gave it to Alia without his consent.

Karan Johar called it a “gore misinterpretation” of the reality. Dharma then took a decision to prioritise the audience to critics and declared there’s be no pre-release screenings for critics in future. The only other Bollywood production company that follows this practice is Yash Raj Films.

“The decision has been difficult to make, however, we believe it's a necessary step in ensuring that every viewer, including our friends in the media, witness our stories as they were meant to be experienced,” Dharma said in an official statement.

Industry insiders have revealed to The Indian Express that Dharma’s decision stems from more than one reason. One source from Dharma shared that the move signals that the audience, not the critics, holds the ultimate power.

This policy is suggested to aim to address corruption within a section of film critics. According to a Dharma insider, press screenings often lead to monetary exchanges for biased reviews.

“When there are press shows, then monetary conversations happen for rigging the reviews. This way, review management might stop because Bollywood right now is in a severe credibility crisis,” the source told the publication.

There are reports of producers paying influencers and critics for favourable reviews. A well-known filmmaker told the publication that some critics offer positive reviews for payments ranging from ₹15,000 to ₹60,000 per tweet.

“If you can buy a positive review, you can very well plant negative reviews as well. When there is so much at stake, egos are high and the market so vulnerable, you don’t want to take any chances with negativity spoiling the party,” the filmmaker told the publication.

‘Extortion’ of film reviews

A media management executive stated Dharma’s move could help stop the “extortion” in the review process. If more production houses join this approach, it could restore trust in reviews and encourage genuine word-of-mouth promotion, the executive said.

“The sanctity of movie reviews and reviewers has become non-existent,” the publication quoted the insider as saying.