KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has stated that 'review bombing' should not destroy the film industry. The court also directed the DGP to take strict action against those who extort money by blackmail under the guise of movie reviews. Justice Devan Ramachandran said that there is a situation where you can do anything if you have a phone in your hand.

The court observed the petition filed by Mubeen Rauf, the director of the film 'Aromalinte Aadyathe Pranayam', seeking to control the negative reviews that destroy the films. The court also explained that vloggers who blackmail filmmakers through reviews should be afraid of the order.

The petitioners told the court that some vloggers are trying to extort money from filmmakers and if they don't pay, they post bad reviews which affects the box office collection. When the High Court heard the petition last time, the court had asked the DGP to inform what action he intends to take in this regard. The government lawyer said yesterday that a protocol will be made in consultation with producers, directors and others related to the film industry and that time will be required for this. Following this, the petition was adjourned for consideration after two weeks.

The Kerala Film Producers Association also filed a petition against film reviews. The High Court verbally asked where the

association was until the court intervened. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, there is a post of BIS Review Administrator and the association argued that it should be implemented. But the court doubted how effective this would be. The High Court said that there is no need to wait for the protocol to come in for police action.