Akshay Kumar has never been Critics' favourite actor. So this time Khiladi Kumar ahs decided to connect with them as the influence the decision of an average moviegoer. In his latest blog he writes:

Now that the mutliplex strike is over, I am a relieved man. The eight weeks between April 9 and June 5, 2009 were one of the darkest phases for the Indian film industry. We needed to address serious issues with the multiplexes; however, we also lost out precious revenue in this period.

The movies are back but our worries as the film fraternity are far from over. Have you realised what the scenario will be in the next few months of 2009? Movies, big and small, will be jostling for space at the box office. I don't know how many of these will get their rightful due because of the mad rush.

There is a difference between a buffet and an a-la-carte meal. A buffet is not necessarily the best way to enjoy a meal. Likewise, a rush of movies at the theatres from now on could be like a buffet with the audience not being able to savour their meal.

There are also two other issues that I must write about in the context of movies. One is about piracy; we lose on an average at least 35 per cent of our box office revenues to piracy. My sincere plea to movie-watchers in India and overseas is please watch our movies in theatres. Don't watch pirated DVDs.

My second request, please be clear about this — it's a request, is to the critics. Hello, all critics — would you guys kindly consider bringing out your reviews after the first weekend? Okay, if that is too late, then, bring it out on a Saturday. Give us a clear Thursday / Friday to showcase our movies.

What happens is — I have witnessed this personally, so I am saying it with full confidence — if a review is put up on a website or carried in a newspaper or shown on television on a Thursday / many times on the Friday that the movie opens, and if the movie is panned... then it affects the box office really badly.

I witnessed a man from Kolkata telling his family to cancel 11 tickets of a recent movie that was panned by a critic on a Thursday.

The man was saying, "We have booked tickets in advance. But this critic has panned it. Let us cancel the 11 tickets and go for an Italian meal instead. Why torture ourselves watching a movie that has got a one star rating!"

There could be a domino effect once many such tickets are cancelled. Poor box office means less revenue for an industry that has already suffered a strike. I know the critics' job is to inform a reader / viewer.

I know the critics have a loyalty to only the reader / viewer. However, my appeal to critics is — if you can please hold your reviews for a day or two, let our movies breathe.

We put in a lot of hard work and sweat into the movies and sometimes they are dismissed one day prior to the world release.

If 35 per cent is lost to piracy, then the film industry loses at least 20 per cent revenue because of the reviews. Your pen is very powerful and a critic can make or break a movie.

Ideally the industry and critics should work in tandem with each other. I'm hardly saying that the critic shouldn't do his job.

And, he has the freedom of speech — that is every Indian's fundamental right — so I'm not even trying to tamper with that. My request as a film industry person — an actor first, now also a producer — is, to critics, to be slightly more responsible. Like I said again, this is an appeal.

Courtesy: itimes.com