YOU ASKED IT | 15 April, 2022

Why are your reviews of films not highlighted in half- and full-page advertisements issued by producers for their films on the day of release of the films or on the following day or following Sunday?

– Only those reviews which talk in glowing terms about the film are highlighted in the advertisements, for obvious reasons. Strangely and quite often, the one-liners and stars mentioned against the names of the reviewers are given before some of those reviewers have even watched the film in question! That is why you may generally be seeing the same names being highlighted. Do you think, I would fall prey to such gimmicks? I don’t believe in pleasing producers. I am happy that my readers/viewers trust my reviews. That’s far, far more important than one’s name being flashed in dubious newspaper ads.

How were you so confident about the bumper opening of K.G.F. Chapter 2? In your ‘You Asked It’ column of 1st April (two weeks before the film’s release), you had said that the craze for the film was growing by the day and that the film’s opening would be bumper.

– You have my answer in your observation. I could say what I said because the craze for the film was growing by the day. If you want to understand how I gauged that, well, one has to have his ear to the ground all the time in this industry.

Was the decision of the producers of Jersey to postpone their film, right?

– Of course, it was cent per cent right. Looking to the bumper-and-beyond initial of K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 yesterday (Thursday, April 14), one can well say that releasing JERSEY alongside K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 would have been suicidal for the producers and distributors of JERSEY.