Hindustan Times (Patna) - Hindustan Times (Patna) - Live
BATTLING PIRACY NEEDS AUDIENCE SUPPORT
Laws and technology needed to check film piracy but viewers’ support paramount, feels industry
The only place where pirates look good is probably the Hollywood film series Pirates of the Caribbean. Otherwise, it is no news that piracy is unlawful. And anyone who is associated with the film industry will tell you that the film piracy menace is quite a nightmare.
“Piracy had cost the industry around ₹800-1,000 crore last year,” says trade analyst Atul Mohan. Acknowledging the gravity of the crime, the government also announced measures like anti-camcording provision in the Interim Budget to check it.
The recent spate of film piracy incidents where films such as Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi; Uri: The Surgical Strike; Thackeray; The Accidental Prime Minister were leaked online, either hours before their release or immediately after, only add to the list of films leaked in the past: 2.0 (2018), Zero (2018), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017).
Piracy is “nothing less than stealing” and “heartbreaking” for the film’s team, says Aditya Dhar, director of Uri. He says, “About 400-500 people work hard night and day on a film... It can spoil the film’s collection in just a few hours.”
Sunil Bohra, the co-producer of The Accidental Prime Minister, says he kept “getting messages from various people” telling him about all the websites where his film was illegally uploaded. “I didn’t know how to react to that. I just kept praying every minute that this be the last link,” he says.
While the provision is yet to be put to practice, the industry has been coming up with ways to lessen the impact of piracy. Dhar’s team had shot an anti-piracy video. “It kept popping up and it deterred people from downloading it,” says Dhar.
Film producer Bhushan Kumar says, “Yes, there are agencies doing their best to curb or control piracy... They block when they see a pirated film but we are yet to have a mechanism that can help keep a tab on the ‘uploads’ by the minute.” Bohra also feels that the power of technology is being misused by film pirates. He says, “With the Internet’s reach, we don’t know from where is it happening.”
The authorities’ involvement is great, but the onus of checking the menace is on the audience, feels the industry. Actor Akshay Kumar had tweeted to urge people to not watch the leaked version of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Director of Toilet... Shree Narayan Singh says, “I appreciate the efforts taken by the Finance Minister. I will request the country to stay away from piracy.”
The Producers Guild of India calls it a “significant move”. Atul Mohan feels that “besides the Cyber Cell blacklisting” piracy websites, “fans should raise an alarm” when they come across such incidents, just like the “fans of Tamil and Telugu films do”.