No Ratings, No Wars: KFI Finds New Way to Curb Fan Battles

Compared to other film industries, Sandalwood has relatively fewer stars—just a handful at the top. Whether or not there is rivalry among them, fan wars between their supporters have always been intense. These clashes have increasingly started affecting the performance of films. On platforms like BookMyShow and IMDb, negative ratings, along with critical reviews on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, are often used as tools to bring down films of rival stars. This not only influences general audiences but also has serious consequences for filmmakers, especially producers. However, this trend is not limited to Kannada cinema; it is common across film industries.

A few months ago, the Malayalam film industry even attempted to bring in a restriction to prevent online reviews during the first three days of a film’s release, though it was unsuccessful. Now, the Kannada film industry has come up with a new solution—silently moving towards restricting online ratings and reviews to curb fan wars.

The Dark Side of Online Ratings

“How many likes did it get on BookMyShow? What rating are audiences giving out of 10?”—such metrics have become crucial. But rival fan groups often misuse them by giving extremely low ratings without even watching the film, thereby pulling down its overall score. Films like Royal (directed by Thoogudeepa Dinakar), Martin (starring Dhruva Sarja), and Vamana (featuring Dhanveer), released last year, were reportedly impacted by such negative rating campaigns, according to their respective teams. Following this, filmmakers took action. Teams behind films like The Devil, Mark, 45, and Hayagreeva approached the courts to block rating options on BookMyShow. Some also sought legal measures to restrict ratings and reviews across platforms like IMDb, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other websites.

Other Industries Follow Suit

Inspired by Kannada cinema’s move, the Telugu film industry has also begun adopting similar measures. Films like Chiranjeevi’s Manashankar Varaprasad Garu, Anaganaga Oka Raju, Nari Nari Naduve Murari, and BMW have reportedly implemented restrictions on online ratings. This new approach to tackling fan wars is said to have been developed by Bengaluru-based IPlex. With its initial success in Kannada and Telugu industries, reports suggest that Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi film industries are also considering similar strategies to address the growing issue of online fan conflicts.