Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Indian cinema task force/ICTF FAQ

This reference page provides an overview of the Indian cinema task force community's attitude toward sources used in Indian cinema articles. Wikipedia's general content guideline for reliable sources can be found at WP:RS. When contributing to articles about Indian cinema, it is crucial that only resources with established reputations for fact-checking and accuracy be used, and that we use sites with clear editorial policies. This almost always excludes blogs, and sources of that nature. If there is a question about whether a source qualifies as reliable or not, choose a more mainstream, known authority.

Constant updating of box office figures is a relatively fruitless endeavor, and one that is often influenced by corruption, unfortunately. Paid editors, promoters, and fans often inappropriately use Wikipedia to inflate some film finances and deflate the competition's. This manipulation is not limited to Wikipedia, as even Times of India discontinued their box office column after they grew weary of corruption. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160229173413/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Box-Office-column-discontinued/articleshow/26211585.cms? Archive] A real-world example is found here, where some trade analysts express skepticism about box office claims reported by producers of Mammootty's The Great Father. A good example of why we should be circumspect, and why we should avoid primary sources for controversial content like film finances. Other examples can be found here and here, where some sites express skepticism at the box office figures released by producers of Kabali, figures that were also widely reported in otherwise legitimate mainstream sources like Indian Express.

With no central, organized reporting of box office data, it is impossible to establish 100% accurate data about box office figures. Gross values are considered by this task force to be estimates, and as such should be marked in the film article's infobox with the template Estimation. (See community discussion here) Each reliable site that reports on box office gross is using their own proprietary methods for arriving at this number, and some, like Bollywood Hungama disclose this fact to readers. So when news site A posts an estimate of a film, then news site B posts an estimate an hour later that is ₹1 crore higher, the latter number is no more valid than the first. Generally speaking, it probably makes more sense to wait until the film has settled for a few weeks before fussing over box office values.

Please keep in mind that some of the popular Indian sites have copied content directly from Wikipedia without attribution, which creates a problematic reference loop, i.e. we reference them, but they're actually referencing us. This is very difficult to prove, but astute editors should be cautious that 100% infallible truth is impossible, and we should be circumspect. For a real-world example, see this post, which demonstrates that business-standard.com (17 Feb 2016), hindustantimes.com (16 Feb 2016), timesofindia.com (16 Feb 2016), and daily-sun.com (17 Feb 2016) all seem to copy the plot summary from this 3 Feb 2016 version of Raees (2017 film) verbatim.

Sources considered unreliable
It is not practical to list every site the community has determined to be unreliable. Unreliable sites far outweigh the reliable ones, so caution should always be applied when using a reference that is not on the list of reliable sites. The site-wide Wikipedia community has determined that sources considered reliable are ones that have an established reputation for fact-checking and accuracy, as well as a clear editorial standard. That is, we do not assume that a site is reliable simply because it has not been challenged—the site must have a reputation for that fact-checking. Blogs are rarely considered reliable and sites with poorly-written articles draw scrutiny as unreliable, because they clearly lack a clear editorial standard like that which a professional journalistic source would have. Below is a sampling of sites the Indian cinema task force feels are unreliable. Please take note of what unreliable sources look like, since often when you encounter a dodgy, bare-bones, hastily-assembled site with poor grammar, you are often dealing with an unreliable source.

Not yet determined
These links have not yet been discussed specifically by the Indian cinema task force but should largely be avoided, as many have been collected as examples of really poor sources. Most are blogs or random faceless websites with no clear editorial oversight.