SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali has achieved the exceptional feat of raking in over 100 crore just two days after its opening. On one hand the makers are mooning over the gargantuan figures, but on the other they are fighting a battle against the invisible plagiarists. “Bahubali’s pirated copies were out the very evening of the release. We have a John Doe order (cease and desist order against anonymous persons) in place and had circulated the legal notice to all ISPs. Yet there were pirated DVDs and illegal uploads”, says the producer of the film, Shobu Yarlagadda.
An arrest was made on Saturday from Pune for uploading the Hindi version of the film on the internet. The Bangalore police too arrested 9 persons who possessed illegal copies, and over a hundred pirated DVDs were recovered after a raid from a shop in Hyderabad. “We are initiating criminal cases against the accused. A two-member team from our side is coordinating with the anti-piracy cell of the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce to reduce piracy. We have also received forensic reports that indicate which theatre might have been involved in pirating the film,” Shobu explained though adding that the film being a large-screen experience-hasn’t lost much of its revenue to piracy.
Not too long ago, the Tamil film industry witnessed similar instances, after which the makers of Papanasam lodged a complaint with the Chennai city police. The pirated version of the film was uploaded on to the net just a couple of days after the film’s release on July 3rd. “Aggressive handling of the situation is all that will help. You cannot really stop it, but instilling a fear psychosis might at least curb the instances. Of course, the film industry as a whole will need to come together and find a way out,” says Papanasam’s producer Suresh Balaje.
Recent Malayalam film Premam too was mired in controversy after its producer Anwar Rasheed revealed that a pirated copy of the film bearing the watermark ‘censor copy’ was doing the rounds on the Internet. “ We found copies of Bangalore Days, a few days after its release. We had filed a complaint, but there’s been no action even after a year and half. Pirated copies of Premam too appeared two weeks after its release- the rate at which the pirated copies were spreading were alarming,” Anwar told a Malayalam news channel. Protesting inadequate support from film bodies in the issue, Anwar later resigned from the Film Employees Federation of Kerala and the Kerala Film Producer’s Association.
During the course of its investigation the anti-piracy cell of Kerala police, visited the Vismayas Max studios in Thiruvananthapuram set up by Mohanlal and the Four Frames theatre in Chennai owned by Priyadarshan to ascertain the source of the ‘censor copy’ print of the film. The police also arrested three students from Kollam in Kerala, last week, after they were found to have uploaded pirated copies plagiarized copies of Premam on the internet. The team seized also the original censor copy from the CBFC in Thiruvananthapuram and recorded the statements of the film’s director Alphonse Puthren from his house in Aluva, (where most of the film was edited) and Anwar Rasheed.
Premam, which was shot at a budget of just over 5 crore collected over 30 crore, a month after its release. “The film’s performance has still exceeded our expectations, it’s not like the film has failed. But I think we are losing out on the repeat audiences who will now turn to plagiarized content from the internet. Piracy has definitely eaten into its collections,” Anwar Rasheed summed up in an interview. Actor Nivin Pauly too came out strongly against piracy and the lack of efficiency in investigating the case. “A movie like Premam is the realisation of a group of young people’s long dream. To see that movie illegally is not only a crime but also an insult to our work,” he wrote in Manorama.
Film actors Vishal and R Parthiban, had protested against illegal copies of their films (Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam and Poojai respectively) post release. Speaking to The Quint, actor Vishal said, “When an instance of piracy is reported, mostly only individuals affiliated the film come out and act against it. Others remain silent until their films are affected. Identifying the source of piracy is a simple process and we try to take theatres in to confidence because that’s where it all starts. It’s high time we took it seriously. Unless there’s a concerted effort on the industry to come together and address the issue, this will continue.”
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