If I go about classfying the film viewers we have, especially in India. Then it would most probably be

Intellectual
These viewers, watch films intensely and passionately. They like to note every point in a movie and then discuss with fellow friends. For them it doesn't matter whether its a serious film like Black Friday, or a dark humour like Yeh Saali Zindagi, or a slapstick like Hey Baby. Every film holds its own importance, is the mantra.

Critical
These viewers, are more of inclined to see what they didn't like in the film, and more often they would compare the hindi films with hollywood, how much copied it is etc. Actually, in a way they too form the 'intellectual' viewers group, but with a wee bit of difference that they focus more on a certain aspect during a film, while watching it or while analysing it later. A large section of this group belongs to 'reviewers or critics' who write for various sites, or newspapers or work as film journalist on tv channels.

Time-pass
They just want entertainment. It doesn't matter if the comedy is slapstick, if the drama is going over the top, or if there is a item song coming at anywhere in the film. Just entertain them, no social messages and no preaching/lecturing. These are more or less, the aam janta, the family audiences who watch films every sunday or most often labelled as 'popcorn' audience.

Genre Basis
If you classify time-pass viewers further, then you would get these viewers who watch films based on genres i.e Romantic/Thriller/Action/Drama/Family/Emotional/Art/Path-Breaking/Animation etc etc. They incline themselves to either one particular genre or maybe two/three, and would not watch rest genre films, especially in theatre. You would often see a clash between a romantic viewer opinion with a thriller viewer opinion.

Fans/Haters
These viewers watch the film based on their liking/disliking towards a celebrity. The former is very clear, a fan is bound to go and see their favourite celeb films. While the latter is surprising but it does happen, the haters go to see the movie so that they can come and then rip apart the film on online forums, social sites or their friends, and if nothing then blog it.


The clashes does make it ugly often, whether its between intellectual and critical or critical with fans/haters, or any other. But, all these viewers together institute the collections of a film boxofficewise, and also in terms of cinema watchers these all provide varied opinions on almost every film. Just think of it, can you even name a single film that was loved by 100% audience, even Sholay/DDLJ are disliked by a section of people.

Every person will have a particular take on a film, it may be baised, it may be personal, it may be critical, or it maybe thoughtful but at the end of the day .. they all are just presenting and sharing their views. Just imagine, if you remove 'Critical' section.. wont the fans/haters or intellectual or other section miss them. Because they are very much used to their views. Like or dislike, they will always read/listen the views.. so what if they disagree or abuse them in the end.

If you ask me, I kind of dislike every viewer that doesn't see film properly, or analyse atleast 75% of it, if not fully. The time-pass and fans/haters section irritate me the most. While if you know me, then you would know my opinion about critics, but at the end of the day.. they are bound by their duties, their life, their earning.. though I sometimes do believe that Film Reviewing should be limited to sharing views at best, and not a job based, where audience decide to watch a film or not by your views. Yes, good writing skills does make you applicable for Review Writing jobs, but you can even use those skills for debating on endless topics about films or celebs, rather than writing how a newly released film is. Aneways, this is a never ending topic.

Even there are many cases, when two intellectuals or two critics would differ with each other. So, clashes dont just happen among different section of viewers, but also with the same section of viewers too.

In the end point is that the film viewing has been and will always be divided among these groups, and hence we are always going to see opinion on a film divided, only difference would be, the magntitude!

----
Yash.