Watch: Critics reveal how they decide how many stars a film should get

Have you ever been disappointed by a two star rating given to your favorite Salman Khan film? Does it anger you when a critic gives a half star rating to a popular film and five stars to an obscure one? Well then, this video will give you an explanation for the average movie critic’s rating process. In the latest episode of Film Stripped with the Entertainment Editor of CNN IBN Rajeev Masand, you’ll find that most critics are wary of adding stars to their reviews. Chances are that you  just might understand the motivations of film critics who’ve so often frustrated you. In the episode, Masand, along with Journalist Mihir Fadnavis and Entertainment Editor of Firstpost, Deepanjana Pal sit down to debate the merits of adding star ratings to a film review. Pal and Fadnavis make a compelling argument for doing away with the system of star ratings, arguing that it stops the reader from reading the rest of the review. They also argue that star ratings undermine the art of review writing and limit the subjectivity of a review. [caption id=“attachment_1706169” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: Youtube[/caption] For instance, critics may give a four star rating to a Rajkumar Hirani comedy and and a three star rating to the latest Vishal Bharadwaj film. This does not mean that the comedy is a better film, it only shows that the film is well made for the genre that it belongs to. They also discuss the difficulty of grading a film based on numbers given that movies are an art form and not exam papers. For these critic, giving a rating to the film is often a spur of the moment decision, one that they might even regret later. Ideally, most critics would like to avoid giving star ratings to a film. Fadnavis puts it simply, “It’s unfair to the film, it’s unfair to the filmmaker, it’s unfair to the audience and it’s unfair to the reviewer”. Unfortunately, for audiences who demand short verdicts due to paucity of time, the humble star rating is the easiest way to judge the quality of the film.  You can watch the video here: