By Subhash K Jha

The unflattering reviews of his last film Hum Tum Aur Shabana have not gone down well with the director Sagar Ballary.

In an open attack on film critics Bellary accuses them of malpractices.

Says Bellary bitterly, "I've heard most reviewers are bought over with money. How come no sting operation is done on them?

Just because cinema is not a national issue? I think the current crop of reviewers don't know what they're talking about. Incidentally, nobody dares to talk against a Salman starrer because he will probably land up at the critic's doorstep. "

Lashing out further Ballary opines, "None of reviews are qualified. I don't find any reviewer knows the art of cinema. Most of them get personal and none of them has any real knowledge of filmmaking. I'd appreciate it if they comment on my direction.

Instead they're getting personal. If they think I need to look into my craft, they should also do the same. I read international magazines and read reviewers and I've spent so many years reading Cahiers du Cinema. I am not being arrogant. I've confidence in my craft. "

Ballary feels critics are stuck on his first film. "I refuse to be typecast by the critics who have formed an opinion about me after Bheja Fry and are forcing me to conform to their perception of an independent filmmaker. By the way Bheja Fry also got only 1 star from some reviewers. Most reviewers don't know the difference between film and video. "

Ballary feels critics need to be trained in the craft of film reviewing. "I'm a graduate in English literature. We had an entire paper dedicated to literary criticism. Sadly today for a great art like filmmaking we don't have trained critics. "

He says he doesn't fear offending the critics with his opinion. "Am I going to raise a hornet's nest with my comments? It will just prove my point. If this is the end of my career as a filmmaker then I will do farming. But I won't be cowed down by pseudo-intellectuals who write for selfgratification. "

Critics react.

Rajiv Masand: "This is usually and unfortunately the defence of many filmmakers whose films have not been appreciated by critics. It sounds like a case of sour grapes to me. I've not known any critic to accept monetary favours for writing a favourable review. My question to Mr Ballary is, did you pay the critics to write favourable reviews for Bheja Fry? "

Shubha Saha: "Everyone who gets bad reviews for their films feels that way. Nothing special about it. Very few filmmakers can take criticism in the right spirit. "

Raja Sen: "If critics need training to judge movies, then shouldn't we have minimal entry certification for filmmakers? Yes, there are some critics with a question mark against their names.

But when every critics rubbishes your film, the unanimity should give the filmmaker a clear enough hint. I haven't seen Mr Ballary's new film. But he should move on instead of insisting all of us are lying. "

Mayank Shekhar: "Are film critics are paid to write favourable reviews? Can only state in the negative for myself, and I don't read as many reviews as there are available on the web, print and television to be able to tell for others. But it's a very serious charge.

Someone making it must prove this. If found true, such rotten eggs must be exposed, a self-correcting media can do that. In over a decade's experience in entertainment journalism as both editor and writer though, I have arrived at a conclusion that film reporters aren't really paid off.

Given things they will do for free, they don't need to be!

Dominance of marketing and PR machinery in cultural reporting in recent years shouldn't be under-estimated. As for the quality of Indian film critics and training required...

It's richly ironic that a complaint on quality should come from a director whose only successful work (Bheja Fry) is a rip-off of a French movie, which still worked because of the everyman hero (Vinay Pathak) putting his soul into that lead role.

Two things are deemed necessary to be a film critic across the world: some sort of love for the written word, and the passion to watch all movie releases of the week, year after year. This is as true for a Pauline Kael as for a Roger Ebert.

I agree India doesn't have reviewers of the calibre of Kael or Ebert. But I can't recall having come across an Almodovar, Steven Spielberg, Sidney Lumet or a Martin Scorsese among Indian filmmakers either. Great films alone can inspire good critiques. "