‘Martin’ Sari Explains: Are Dhruv Sarja starrer makers against YouTube reviewers?

Fear of copyright strike on his YouTube reviews of Kannada movies Martin, A Kannada content producer avoided naming the movie and titled the film Mortien, a popular pest control product. Ever since the Dhruv Sarja starrer action thriller hit the theaters on October 11, 2024, critics and the film team have been at odds. The YouTube film-review community has been hit hardest by the controversy.

Martin, Directed by AP Arjun, the film was praised for its highly ambitious action set pieces, but the film was criticized for the protagonist’s loud characterization in the Dhruv Sarja essay. The film released on Dussehra weekend got a great opening but soon sparked a row when several YouTube creators started taking down their negative reviews of the movie.

Anmol Jamwal wrote, “Won’t review any Kannada movies other than the Shettys’ (Raj, Rishabh and Rakshit) films who have received praise and criticism. X. Anmol talks about movies and reviews films on his channel Tried and Refused Productions, which has 1.22 million subscribers.

Bullish behavior

Anmol received an e-mail from a company representing the film team. It demanded the removal of his review Martin, Which was titled, “Worst Film of 2024.”

“I see action from manufacturers as bullish,” says Anmol Hindu “I got an indication that if I don’t delete my video, the makers will press a copyright strike I didn’t want to get into trouble, so I took down the review from my channel,” he said, adding that such an incident had never happened since he started his channel in 2015.

Dhruv Sarja in ‘Martin’. | Photo credit: Special Arrangements

Reacting to the development, the film’s producer Uday K Mehta said that protecting his film is his top priority. “I got a John Doe order from the court to take legal action against anyone who I feel is harming my film business,” he says. “Any content that works against the interest of the film will face consequences, and as a producer, I must protect my film,” he added.

Popular Canadian YouTube reviewer Shaun Prasher has been reprimanded Martin Creators for failing to follow “YouTube Etiquette”. Prasher’s review was hit by a copyright strike by the film team. “According to YouTube guidelines, one must send a warning before deciding to strike a copyright notice. What happened in my case is nothing but abuse of the system and curtailment of freedom of expression. I have filed a counter-notification, and they (producers) have ten days to reply,” he said. Hindu

personal attack

Such is the logic of producer Uday Martin Personal attacks have faced consequences. “One hero’s fans are against the hero of my film. So they are talking negatively about the movie. Some YouTubers are vindictive against my film director. So they are attacking him personally in the name of movie review. In this chaos, I have suffered the most as a producer,” he says.

Sudhakar Gowda, who runs a Kannada YouTube channel called Srishti Entertainers, complained of threatening calls from Dhruv Sarja’s fans after he posted a negative review of the movie. “Do I not have the right to express my opinion about a film? I paid for the film ticket, so I have every right to talk about it,” he said in his video. In his review, Sudhakar says the film is a wannabe KGF And Dhruv slammed Sarger’s performance, calling it “over the top”.

Director AP Arjun insists that he has nothing against YouTube reviewers. But, he claims that “paid reviews” are rampant in the industry, citing the review bomb controversy in the Malayalam film industry.

In 2023, a Malayalam film producer went to court to stop reviews of the film on social media and YouTube for at least seven days after the film’s release. D Martin The row comes just days after Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions decided to cancel pre-release screenings of its movies, allegedly fearing poor reviews.

Arjun finds YouTube reviews to be an “informed observation” of a film. “No one wants to make a bad movie. If you, as a content creator, don’t like a film, you need to point it out objectively and do a thorough analysis. Crores of rupees are involved in making a movie. You can’t kill a film with your loose comments,” he opined, slamming those who bashed his movies.

Rost vs. Responsible Review

Kairam Vaashi, a seasoned Kannada YouTube reviewer and film critic, says that it is understandable that people who spend crores of rupees to make a film find it offensive when their movies are fried. “However, they must take proper steps within the legal framework and not use their power and position to bully manufacturers into shutting them down,” he added.

Martin There were roasts from creators on YouTube. Kannada film industry is against this idea. Kairam Vashi thinks responsible review is always better than roasting. “A responsible review should never be banned. Reviews are beneficial to the industry whereas roasts serve the interests of the makers but don’t help the film or the makers,” he offers.

Also read:Interview with director AP Arjun Working with ‘Martin’, Controversy and Dhruv Sarger

Sean Prasher says his roasts mix intelligent criticism with good humor. “I am against personal attacks and below-the-belt humor. I have done the biggest Bollywood film roast but never faced any problem.”

There seems to be no solution to the problem as claimed by many on social media Martin’s Manufacturers kindly accept feedback. On the other hand, some feel that there will soon be a middle ground between critics and filmmakers.