For the past three years, a social media platform has been reviewing films with their Facebook page that is followed by almost three lakhs of people. Cinema Pranthan is a movie review page conceptualized by a digital agency, WD Solutions, popularly known as Web Dinkan. Initially, the page had two admins. Today, the number has gone up by 11. Meeting the popular demands they have expanded beyond the Facebook page and other social media networks– today Cinema Pranthan can be visited on their website, www.cpofficial.com. So what does the Cinema Pranthan do exactly? Why are so many movie buffs crazy about them and what is so different about them? FWD Business caught up with the brain behind Cinema Pranthan, Mr. Sajid Yahiya, CEO & founder. Sajid is no alien to you as he himself is an actor who acted in Malayalam films like Collector, Friday, Theevram, Kaashh, Amen and the blockbuster movie, Bangalore Days.
What has instigated you to start?
There was movie related pages and sites before. That has definitely inspired me but I wanted to do it in a unique way and that made us post reviews from a Pranthan’s (Insane man) perspective, a Cinema Pranthan. That clicked,people and we instantly flagged off the name.
So what makes CP (Cinema Pranthan) so unique?
No one has made an impact like us. And our’s is a pranthan, who has the liberty to say things that normal people can’t. First it stayed within our group and gradually it got revealed to the public. We are also planning to provide a web portal, mobile app, and a print magazine. It’s almost done and could possibly get launched by next month.
What’s the feedback from the film industry? Is it positive or negative?
Always positive. We boost up films by writing the review. We never underrate any films. If the film is not good, we just keep our mouth shut. We are here to promote and our motto is kind of ‘boost is the power of Pranthan’s energy:[Laughs]
Who exactly reviews the film? Is it individual wise or panel wise?
Initially, it was me. Now we have three guys who watch films on the release date and they put their reviews in our group, a private one, and it gets posted on Facebook once everyone approves it.
How do cinema Pranthan rate present movies? Is it god or bad?
Now the industry is changing to a different kind of filmmaking. Realistic, technologically sound and the difference can be seen in nowadays films. The industry is growing as many unique makers are stepping up.
What kind of movies does Cinema Pranthan like?
Cinema Pranthan likes every kind of films. We ourselves now segregated into Cinema Pagal for Hindi, Cinema Pitchodu for Telugu, Cinema Psychos for Hollywood and Cinema Paithyam for Tamil. Everything launched and going as demo shows and has planned offices at Hyderabad, Mumbai Chennai. We will cover all over India by next year.
Are there any plans for Cinema Pranthan to make a movie?
Yes. It has already been announced. (IDI – Inspector Dawood Ibrahim,’ action comedy film, starring Asif Ali and the shoot starts from October 20th. Asif’s character is Inspector Dawood Ibrahim.
Is there a risk that film makers would try to influence CP in future?
Malayalam film is just Rs 300 crore a year industry and is so tiny compared to others. The whole industry’s business could relate with a single Shahrukh Khan’s movie. So these kinds of gimmicks and marketing techniques are inevitable for its survival. No one intends to make a bad film, but the circumstances and other situations make so. We are just utilizing that opportunity.
Which film are you waiting for in this Onam?
Waiting for ‘Double Barrel’. We are the official online partner and I’ve acted in it and above all, its director is my favorite one and a good friend of mine. Lijo Jose Pellissery, the director, makes great films and has the potential to create a difference.
How do you tolerate the controversial comments posted on your feeds?
They could comment on our posters and we take it from CP’s perspective. Protests are allowed and they could probably counter attack if they feel something against our post. And we won’t delete the posts or comments unless they are abusive. We don’t tolerate abusive behavior and obscene comments through fake accounts. We immediately block them as there are a lot of others seeing this including children and ladies. We give replies to every message and it could be more than 250 a day. And we have also started a film consultancy. If someone’s having a good story, we will consult it with producers, directors or actors and helps to build a project. And the response is quite good, we have already received 2000 mails and we refined eight out of that and now are currently listening to eight full stories.
Are the people working behind CP basically from Ernakulam?
No., we got the initial pushfrom Vijay Babu and Sandra Thomas. They helped us a lot for the promotion and they are our mentors.
Does Cinema Pranthan engage only in film activities or they have any interest on social problems?
We talk about every social issue and if someone pokes out a question on our limits to shrink ourselves with cinemas, we say to them with a Mammootty style “moda kandal edapedumanna”. And we talk about the genuine things and a majority has appreciated us on this regard. And we never post any gossips or immature photos of any kind. We always concentrate on cinema promotions and we pay tribute to the legends of Malayalam cinema by posting any random personality and his/her achievement each week. ‘Just remember that’ is another motion to recollect some old Malayalam films. “Pranthante vatta mesha sammelanam” to discuss on any film related matters. And we have so many such creative albums.
State the recent good and bad films?
Cinema Pranthan cannot tell about the bad films. And what that comes in our page are all good films to us. And we get the invites to previews and FDFS (First Day First Show) tickets too.