IMDb switches rating method upon noticing ‘unusual voting activity’ on The Kashmir Files' page, Vivek Agnihotri reacts

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has reacted to IMDb changing the rating method upon noticing ‘unusual voting activity' on the film’s page.

IMDB, popular website hosting film and television audience reviews, has changed its method of calculating rating for Hindi release The Kashmir Files. On the film's rating page, it is mentioned: ‘Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title. To preserve the reliability of our rating system, an alternate weighting calculation has been applied.’

Anupam Kher while shooting for The Kashmir Files.

The rating for The Kashmir Files currently stands at 8.3 with 135,000 votes recorded. While 94% people gave it a 10 rating, 4% people rated it 1. IMDb explains weighted rating as: “IMDb publishes weighted vote averages rather than raw data averages. The simplest way to explain it is that although we accept and consider all votes received by users, not all votes have the same impact (or ‘weight’) on the final rating. When unusual voting activity is detected, an alternate weighting calculation may be applied in order to preserve the reliability of our system. To ensure that our rating mechanism remains effective, we do not disclose the exact method used to generate the rating.”

IMDb rating for The Kashmir Files.

A fan of the film brought this to the notice of director Vivek Agnihotri on Twitter. Vivek replied to it, saying “This is unusual and unethical.”

The Kashmir Files is based on the exodus and killings of Kashmiri Pandits in the valley in the 1990s. It stars Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumaar and others.

On its opening weekend, the film collected ₹27 crore. Movie business analyst Taran Adarsh also shared the figures on Twitter. He tweeted, “#TheKashmirFiles shows phenomenal growth. Grows 325.35% on Day 3 [vis-à-vis Day 1]. New records metros + mass belt, multiplexes + single screens, the *opening weekend biz* is TERRIFIC across the board... Fri 3.55 cr, Sat 8.50 cr, Sun 15.10 cr. Total: ₹27.15 cr. #India biz.”