Anna MM Vetticad No, no. No such lofty ideals :) I wrote The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic because I wanted people to understand that a film industry cannot be divorced from the society that it emerges from - so the weak position of women in Bollywood, the homophobia of film makers, the irresponsible portrayal of persons with disabilities, the film makers' fear of serious political issues, the star-struck nature of Bollywood, are all a reflection of the Indian social reality.

Anna MM Vetticad Aww, now you are making me emotional, Anant. Also, we've gone on for 45 minutes beyond the designated time so I think perhaps I'd better sign off before the IBN Live team throws me out :)

Anna MM Vetticad Not being diplomatic at all, Anant. I know you read my blog regularly, so you know I would never do that :)

Anna MM Vetticad ''and the expenditure made on a movie is inversely proportional to how much successful it would be'' ... Seriously? :)

Anna MM Vetticad But if you make the allegation, isn't it fair that you should be the one giving proof, Anant? :)

Anna MM Vetticad ???

Anna MM Vetticad Thank you Anant. I hope you respect my reviews even when you disagree with them :)

Anna MM Vetticad I'm rather stiff-necked and severe about this. As far as I'm concerned, it would be dishonest for a person to even talk on the phone during a film if they intend to review that film.

Anna MM Vetticad No. Never.

Anna MM Vetticad I thoroughly enjoy a diversity of opinions about the cinema I consume. Why don't you, Nayeem? As for your question: Why are there film critics? Because there is a demand for film critics, because people like reading about cinema, because some people make their film viewing decisions based on the views of critics, because good reviews end up being archival material that will give generations to come a perspective on films that they didn't watch at the time of their release, etc etc :)

Anna MM Vetticad Firstly, Rashi, I"m uncomfortable with the use of the word "regional" for all non-Hindi cinema. Like you, I do wish that film makers in all languages in our country would make the effort to subtitle or dub their films so that they can reach audiences beyond the primary speakers of the language. Personally, I prefer subtitled films over dubbed films, but I wouldn't impose my tastes on those who are uncomfortable with subtitles. Indian film makers need to learn from market-savvy Hollywood. Have you noticed that all big Hollywood films are now automatically dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. It's strange that our own people don't want to reach the entire country by crossing language barriers

Anna MM Vetticad Firstly, Anant, it's not fair for you to make such a serious allegation while naming a person without any evidence to support your claim. Secondly, ''movie is not deserving'' is subjective. Thirdly, like in every profession, there are honest and dishonest film critics too. Fourth, if you don't trust a particular critic, don't read them. Fifth, if you doubt one particular critic, don't make assumptions about all critics. Hope I've answered your question

Anna MM Vetticad Hello Kanisha, the dictionary lying next to me defines "criticise''in these words: to judge or analyse merits and faults. So to critique or to criticise means the same thing, and I don't know why so many of us now use the word ''criticise'' only with negative connotations. I think the best critics are people who look at a film from all angles and don't necessarily dismiss every aspect of a film, simply because the overall impact of that film has been awful; and vice versa. And of course a critique may be written by one who is not a film maker; the person does, however, need to be an intelligent and well informed film consumer :)

Anna MM Vetticad Oh gosh, Anant, I don't know if I read enough critics to be able to say who the worst is. Remember, we live in the Internet era so beyond the mainstream media's critics there are so many bloggers out there etc etc. But as a general rule, I'd say the worst kind of critic is a dishonest critic. If you don't have integrity, you have no business being a critic

Anna MM Vetticad I always torture myself over my reviews and my ratings. I feel that whether a film is good or bad, someone has spent time and money and energy on that film and I should therefore do justice to the film. Doing justice doesn't mean praising the film, but being fair to it, not taking the task of reviewing it lightly - and that always requires time and thought :)

Anna MM Vetticad I judge actors on a film to film basis. I feel that's the best way to approach film reviewing :)

Anna MM Vetticad Different critics have different opinions about a single movie because they are different human beings with - thankfully - individual points of view. As a reader, if you are looking for convenience, you should track a bunch of critics over a period of time, then zero in one or two critics whose views tend to match yours :)

Anna MM Vetticad I don't find the large mass of Bollywood critics any different from the large mass of Hollywood critics. I mean, if you check rottentomatoes.com you will find an 87% positive rating for a film you've just mentioned, The Matrix. Also, I think that there's a certain section of the Indian intelligentsia that's very open to Hollywood's fantastical, special effects big-budget high-action extravaganzas, however nonsensical they maybe but is judgemental about films of a similar sort made by Bollywood. I find that very condescending

Anna MM Vetticad This is a matter I've discussed at length in my book. I don't think there are sufficient roles of substance being written for women in Hindi films. Too often they are mere decoration pieces in films. Some things are changing for the better with the success of Fashion, Jab We Met, NOKJ, The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, but not enough has changed and it's not changing fast enough. It's a crying shame!

Anna MM Vetticad Haha, he claims that he thinks all critics are useless. I'll leave you to surf the Net and find the name of the critic whose review of one Rohit Shetty film was misquoted in the pre-release promo for another Rohit Shetty film ;)

Anna MM Vetticad Thank you so much for realising that my book goes way beyond films and film making! :) I'm hoping that readers realise that there's more to The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic than the overview of Bollywood that it gives - that would be a very literal and, I feel, incomplete interpretation of the book. But the point I'm trying to make in the book is that no film industry can be divorced from the reality of the society it emerges from; that the Hindi film industry is a reflection of Indian society. But these are things you can understand only after reading the book or reading reviews, not from any title or book cover or packaging. Still, I shall certainly think about your feedback on the title - :)

Anna MM Vetticad It was not difficult for me because I was an established journalist with 17 years of work experience when I decided to write a book. If it weren't for that though, it would be extremely tough.

Anna MM Vetticad Dear Ananth, When you watch an automobile show, do you ask if the analyst on the show is an automobile engineer? AS far as I'm concerned, the qualification to be a critic is perspective on cinema, intelligence, the ability to articulate views, and the courage to stand by them.

Anna MM Vetticad Hi Nikhil. (1) I'm never gentler or harsher on a film based on the background of the film's team. However, if I find a small film very good, then I may tweet the link to my review many more times than I would for a big film. Because big films have big marketing departments, small films hardly have any. But the review is not influenced by the size of the film :) (2) Not insecure. Just curious. And when I started seeing the numbers visiting my blog, I was reassured that I had been doing something right all these years

Anna MM Vetticad Yes my family is originally from Kerala, but I was born and brought up in Delhi so I like to think of myself as both a Malayali and a Delhi-ite. I do try to watch films in Indian languages other than Hindi, but there are not enough that get released here with subtitles, which is a pity. I keep protesting about that on Twitter - hope other industries are listening because there are many film buffs like me who would love to watch subtitled Telugu, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali and other films. BTW it was such a joy to watch Eega in the original Telugu in a theatre in Delhi with English subtitles, instead of waiting for the Hindi dubbed version :)

Anna MM Vetticad Firstly, Vishnu, if I were interviewing a star, I wouldn't use the word "dumb' in a question :) But that's another matter. Like I said in an earlier answer, I think too many people make blanket statements about all critics or all Indian critics based on the 1 or 2 critics they read. There are as many good and bad critics as there are good and bad nurses, teachers, engineers, doctors, in this country. If you read a dozen or so critics on a regular basis you will discover that

Anna MM Vetticad Depends on your definition of objectivity. Films are a work of art, they are not mathematics, so a review is a personal opinion - it's a question of your personal tastes, personal experiences, your background, your level of knowledge, your interests, etc. So if the word objectivity is to be used in the context of films I guess it should mean you are not allow your view on a star's off-screen persona to influence your opinion, that you don't go into a film with a pre-conceived notion that it will be bad because it's made by X etc. You must always go to see the film with an open mind as a critic

Anna MM Vetticad It depends on the film and the kind of person you are. If it's a film you've decided 100% that you want to see, then a review may not influence your decision to go watch it, yet it may (or may not) influence the opinion you form about the film. If you are looking for a guideline on whether or not to watch a film, then of course it goes without saying that reviews will influence you

Anna MM Vetticad :) No. I only get angry when people make personal remarks or question my integrity or make assumptions about me as a person ('you love X star, therefore you are slamming Y star's film' etc) because they happen to disagree with my point of view.

Anna MM Vetticad Of the three books I'm working on simultaneously right now, one is a work of fiction. And of course I'd be thrilled if someone wanted to make it into a film, because that would mean my book too reaches a wider audience. Incidentally, even the two books of non-fiction that I'm working on have the potential to be turned into feature films. I'm afraid I can't say more than that though ;)

Anna MM Vetticad I'm currently simultaneously working on three books, but I've given myself till January to decide which one to prioritise. So I'll be able to tell you by Jan when you can expect the next book. Thanks for asking, Rashi :)

Anna MM Vetticad Oh, did you feel the title is not-so-serious? I guess I don't agree. I felt The Adventures of an Intrepid Film encapsulated everything I had experienced for this book, and I didn't think about it from the point of view of whether it would appeal to a wider audience or a smaller audience. Honestly. I just felt it worked, that it was apt. Having said that, every criticism is valid criticism as far as I'm concerned, so I shall chew on what you've said to me today :)

Anna MM Vetticad Tks for dropping in Sir / Ma'am. Do ask a question :)

Anna MM Vetticad Shubhra Gupta, Suparna Sharma, Namrata Joshi, Rajeev Masand, Saibal Chatterjee, Anupama Chopra ... Shubhra, Saibal and Anupama are my seniors so I'm not sure I should even be calling them my contemporaries

Anna MM Vetticad It's not just about the research that I did for my book - I feel in general that the Hindi film industry is not very good at making thrillers. Policemen and detectives in Hindi films often look like kids playing a game of cops-and-robbers.

Anna MM Vetticad Oh boy, tough one Rashi. I'm very harsh on myself yet I also love my writing - does that even make sense?! I dont't. But each time I read what I've written I feel that I could have done it better, yet I also feel pleased with the work I've done. I bet I sound terribly mixed up to you :)

Anna MM Vetticad Not sure what you mean by “review process’’, MBBS. If you are online right now, could you clarify?

Anna MM Vetticad Thanks for your kind words, Anish. Also, when I give a ¾ or 9/10 rating to a film, I’m firstly hoping that my readers have a sense of humour about how finicky I’m being, but I’m also making a point. For instance, 2 and 3/4 stars is my way of saying the film is not good enough for a 3 but I’m more positively inclined to it than negatively inclined to it. “Best film’’ etc are subjective, wouldn’t you say? All I want is that you should be able to respect my opinion even when you disagree with me

Anna MM Vetticad On the blog I’m free from constraints of space and deadlines, and my only boss is the reader. And I assume that people take me seriously otherwise they wouldn’t visit my blog in droves to read my reviews. The page-views monitor on the blog speaks for itself :) As a blogger it’s highly reassuring to know that readers are actually taking the trouble to seek you out, when you are not coming served to them on their doorstep with the morning’s newspaper or on a TV channel they regularly visit. That’s a huge compliment :)

Anna MM Vetticad I find a lot of the time people comment on “all critics” when they might be following the work of 1 or at max two. I found that most of the reviews I read of Ek Tha Tiger, for instance were very negative, yet you say that it got “rave reviews from critics”. Second, a review is an individual’s perspective on a film. In that sense there is no such thing as a right or wrong review – just reviews that you agree or disagree with. But yes, a critic must suitably justify their opinion in the review and should be consistent with their views over a period of time.

Anna MM Vetticad Hi Piyush, nice to meet you here. I can’t comment on the recruitment policies of all newspapers, magazines and channels, but I can safely say that some critics are people who’ve studied at journalism schools and some are people who have been trained on the job. This is no different from your profession, that’s film making – some directors have gone to film schools and others have trained on the job ;)

Anna MM Vetticad No, I don’t think so. I think people actually do value film critics, people read reviews, they often make decisions about which film to see based on reviews, and they enjoy reading reviews as a post-film-watching exercise simply for the joy of reading literature on cinema. But simultaneously, if they happen to disagree with a review by a particular critic, they’ll just as quickly say, “who cares about critics?”or “all critics are biased”. It’s okay, I guess. It’s one of the hazards of the profession that we should all be willing to live with.

Anna MM Vetticad Hard for me to give you a percentage wise break-up, Ram, but like I told Daniel, I think there are as many good and bad film critics as there are good and bad people in other professions, no more, no less :) Änd seriously ask yourself: do you hate most critics or just some critics? :)

Anna MM Vetticad A good critic is one who is unbiased, fair, intelligent, consistent, has perspective, stays well informed about everything going on in the world, reads a lot, watches a lot of films, stays in touch with new developments in other areas of the arts, writes well and is honest. I’d say honesty comes above everything else. While reviewing a film, we should look at the overall impression a film leaves on us – sometimes a film may be weak in a particular department, yet has a lasting overall impact. We also need to look at the film in its socio-political context, in the context of the filmography of that film’s team, and everything else that has happened in the world of cinema. For instance, OMG Oh My God was extremely gutsy in the Indian context! My Name Is Khan was pathbreaking for the manner in which a mainstream Hindi film director and a mainstream Hindi film actor – both associated with glitzy cinema – were collaborating to make a film on a serious disability, in an industry where we usually see poorly researched and/or miserably unhappy films on such characters.

Anna MM Vetticad Hi Daniel, I wouldn’t make any blanket statement about critics. As in every profession, there are good critics and there are bad ones, there are those who are well informed and there are those who are not. There are plenty of critics I respect and from whom I learn something when I read their reviews. I don’t think a review has to cover every single department involved in the film, but it must cover every single RELEVANT department. Example: music is important in any film, but you don’t have to critique music in every film review you write because, among other things, a reviewer must deal with constraints of space and time; but you can’t review Rockstar without commenting on the music. Also, a question right back at you: are you seriously saying that sets, performances, clothing and of course the script” are fluff. I feel the script is the cornerstone of any film! Incidentally, critics for the print and electronic media have limited space and time, but on the other hand web writers are sometimes accused of writing too much. Guess you can’t ever please everybody :)

Anna MM Vetticad Firstly, Maya, it’s nice to know that you’ve read my book and loved that interview. Before the interview I explained to Rohit Shetty the purpose for which I was interviewing him. I also explained to him that as always I’d be recording the interview to ensure that I quote the exact words he speaks. He didn’t object nor did he phone me later to take back his comments, so I can only assume that he doesn’t care who reads what he said to me about film critics and how much he hates all of us :)

Anna MM Vetticad I agree with you, Lalita, that there’s a difference between the two jobs. I’d imagine that a trade analyst would be prone to predicting potential audience reaction and box office success whereas a film critic’s job should be to give her / his own perspective on a film that’s completely independent of the film’s box office fortunes. I would worry that a trade analyst who doubles up as a film critic would be torn between wanting to give their own opinion of a film in a review and the possible mass reaction that a film is likely to attract, on all occasions when they come up against a film they don’t like yet feel that the masses may like it, or vice versa.