Tamil, Hindi festival releases leaked on TN site in 24 hrs

CHENNAI: Around 11 am on Friday, even before the regular shows of Deepavali release, including the much-anticipated Bigil and Kaithi opened to public, there were many who took to social media to review the films.

They had already watched the films through websites – most notorious among them being Tamil Rockers – that had put up pirated versions, much to the chagrin of producers and distributors. The list of films available online included not just these Tamil films, but also Hindi movies such as Housefull4, Saand Ki Aankh and Made in China.

When contacted, SR Prabhu of Dream Warrior Pictures, who bankrolled Kaithi, said that they have put together a list of websites where the pirated version of their movies have been uploaded and have taken up the matter with authorities to pull down the content.

CHENNAI: Even before Deepavali, the festivity has come to an end for the producers of the movies that hit the screens on Friday as all of them have leaked online. The main player in this game of cat and mouse between the producers and pirates is the Tamilrockers, who released Bigil and Kaithi, two of the Deepavali releases, and also the Bollywood films.

According to SR Prabhu, who produced Kaithi, they are fighting a futile battle, as online piracy is a sophisticated network.

“It happens at different levels. Theatre owners, knowing very well that the movie content is their fundamental material for their business, do not take appropriate steps to prevent movie being filmed inside the theatres. If you notice, their business never flourishes in areas where the piracy is supported by theatres. But they fail to recognise it,” he says.

He says states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have a much better system in place where the theatres are shut if they are found to be helping piracy. “That is why good movies work like magic and are received well. But that is not the case in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where the authorities are less bothered about our problem due to various factors,” he says.

The plight of the movie producers is such that their business is temporary, while culprits into piracy have a prolonged business. “That’s why producers could not continue their battle against piracy,” he says.

According to him, there are at least 30,000 members in a popular piracy group on Telegram mobile phone app, who share the movie content that later surfaces online. “The government has put a cap on the film industry on the pricing of tickets. So it is their responsibility to curb piracy. Most of the data are shared through the telecom networks, which is controlled by the central government. Piracy could be controlled only if the Centre takes appropriate steps,” he says.

The plight of the movie producers is such that their business is temporary, while culprits into piracy have a prolonged business