Fate of films NOW changes every Wednesday!
Now no more Friday furies! Filmmakers won’t have to wait till Friday for the film to release. They may get the reviews by Wednesday itself. May be even much before the film actually releases…
Shocked!
Being a hardcore cinephile, even I was shocked. Shell shocked. Stunned. Dazed. Taken aback and upset.
Rakesh Maria with Whats Your Rashee? dvd
The pirates have revealed the names of some distributors who gave them information on ready-to-be-released films and even helped procure copies of masterprints.
The latest masterprint that fell into their hands was of Ashutosh Gowariker’s What’s Your Rashee?, slated to be released on Friday.
The Crime Branch has arrested six people, including a business development manager from Adlabs Films and an associate vice president from UFO Moviez, in connection with the case. It has also found that the entire racket is being run from Karachi in Pakistan.
A Crime Branch officer said, “The accused have revealed the names of some distributors who were helping them with information on where the films were being processed and who were the people who could be contacted for a masterprint.
They also facilitated these liaisons.”
Crime Branch chief Rakesh Maria said, “There are some people from inside the industry, but we are still verifying their exact role and involvement. It would be premature to reveal their names as of now.”
Source – Mumbai Mirror, 23rd Sep, 2009.
Read the full story at Mumbai Mirror
Just few weeks back, I read in the same newspaper about some websites which provide the download of a full, 2 ½ hour l.a.t.e.s.t. movie. Some of them are indianpad.com, movieshovie.com, etc and the list is endless. Then there are sharing portals like rapidshare, yousendit etc, which allow you to upload full length movie in minutes. All you have to do is register for as low as $1
The film maker is running pillar to post, talking with various companies, negotiating hard to crack a deal and trying to make maximum profit out of selling the DVD rights. Chances are he may not know that few meters away from a Moserbaer or a Shemaroo office, there is Chandu or a Raju or a Ismail selling the same DVD in almost zilch cost. Yup! you can get a combo of 5 movies in just 40 bucks. What else you want?
For a common man, it’s a simple calculation – 4 family member + 4 multiplex tickets + a rickshaw ride (to and fro) + popcorn + ice creams + Misc = almost a thousand rupees. So the simplest way is to buy a pirated DVD, which will give entertainment ride of 5 latest movies. Majja ni life and dil bole hadippa.
Piracy is a pain in producer’s ass and a pleasure for millions. Just imagine, a producer is shelling out millions to make a movie, and millions are watching without spending a single penny. Sad but true. It’s not only a pre-release tension that a producer or a director has to go through. Piracy is one bigger threat that of a Friday. And it’s we who are encouraging this business, which as a casual movie-goer, doesn’t affect our life.
Its just one out of the box example, which I am sure many of us may have used in some point of time in our life. Whenever somebody stops us from smoking or drinking, we tell them – “I wanted to leave, but than I think of millions of employee and workers who earns their daily bread because of this one cigarette, so I am just helping them out. I am sure you will agree to me, that we would have used this phrase at some occasion.
My dear friend, the same logic is applicable to the movies as well. It’s not a one man’s job to make a movie. One movie is a one big happy family. They work together, they eat together, and they actually love together. The family is big enough for a common man to imagine. Why can’t we think about them before downloading or buying a pirated movie?
And its not only the producer or the director or the cats and crew of the movie, millions of the people who are working in theatres get their daily bread because of cinema. The ushers, the popcorn wala, the ice-cream wala, the parking contractor, the theatre technician, the printer who is printing the posters and other promotional material, everybody is getting money to give the house rent from that one movie. And we just shatter his/her dreams buy saving some money and buying the pirated stuff.
I will ask you one simple question – how do you feel if one day you find out that high-end nokia phone you are using is having few duplicate parts? Obviously you will feel cheated. What will you do? You will go to the store, argue with the owner and if he is not ready to change it, you will either log a police complaint or if you are capable, aap uske kaan ke neeche ek kheench ke doge.
The same is with the producer or the writer or the director who is putting his heart and soul in the movie. Will you feel good if the producer is slapping a tight one right below your left ear (in simple word, agar producer aap ke kaan ke neecehe kheench ke de, to aapko kaisa lagega?)
I know the film industry is sweating blood to control piracy, and to an extent they are fairly successful. In recent times, they have cracked a big racket of pirated DVDs. But, the biggest problem is – we the people. Yes, you, me and hum.
I remember my chat with Pankaj Advani, just few days back to his post on running from theatre to theatre and getting a live response from the audience. He told me that he is now working on the DVD release dates with Moserbaer. When I was reading his post, I saw a comment (I don’t want to name the person) saying that he has seen the movie downloading it from some site (the guy is not in India). While I understand that all the Indian movies are not released in overseas market, but at the same time, there are ways and means to watch it before it releases in a US or a UK or Antarctica. The guy could have waited for a month or so, and could have asked any of his friends to courier the DVD, once it is released. Of course officially. I am ready to bear the cost myself to all my fellow PFCites who are not in India, if they can wait till the DVD release, I will courier them and trust me, I wont charge a single dollar.
I love cinema. I love Bollywood. And for that matter, I just love movies. No matter what how boring it is, no matter how fucked up it is. And I make it a point that I am watching it on the big screen. Fuck off (off course with asterisk and I request editors not to put any) the cost of the ticket, fuck off the cost of pop corns and ice creamsI watch movies, as I not only love movies, I live movies. I have even watched movies like Aagey se right, Agyaat, Daddy Cool, ShortCut – the con is on, Ruslaan, Fight Club, Bachelor Party, etc in multiplexes. Mind you these are just some recent movies. The list is endless. I never buy a DVD till the time it’s not officially released. How the hell I would know if the movie is good or bad, till the time I watch it. If I want to criticize or appreciate any movie, I should have seen it before I comment. Fuck off; who am I to decide is the movie is good or bad, without even watching it.
Doston, the fate of any film depends on you. You can make it or break it. But all I can request you is, please watch the movies. If you are biased by the reviews and comments, please wait till the DVD is released. If you are buying a pirated movie, or downloading it from some website just to post your valuable comments on PFC or any other blog, I am sorry, but we don’t need you.
Tags: Adlabs, Piracy, Rakesh Maria, UFO Moviez, Video Piracy, What's Your Rashee?
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Though a heartfelt post, your POV is from producers side. It would have been a balanced one had you considered audience POV. Rising ticket prices, lack of good theatres are few other reasons why people watch in DVD’s. Having said that I wouldn’t pay for some utter crap movies.
If its a utter crap, you wont even watch it on DVD.
I didn’t read the entire post and my apologies for jumping to comment right away, but music industry which faces equal issues regarding piracy has benefited from upgrading/changing their distribution model to an online one. Last year the piracy went down to 17% and it is being realized that the real problem was how to make music available to a generation that wanted everything quick and ready. May be film industry needs some measures like that because as it is, we cannot find one person (Read: Osama) with the most sophisticated technology and system. It will be next to impossible to stop or reduce the piracy without making the content available easily and cheap.
@ tejas – Even i thought of the same measure, but the only problem is, if a producer is selling the online right, the multiplexes and distributors will not put in their money. Other than that, the pirates will be leagelly downloading the movie and run their business happily ever after.
Dude, i know that most of it is from Producers point of View…I understand one shud not watch every movie in theatres…but buying a pirated DVD is a BIG no…
Piracy is moral…
Always remember every crime related to black money comes out of social need.Film Tickets were cheap a few years back,piracy was low too.But then multiplexes raised their tickets.Today if I have to watch a movie it costs me around 175 bucks easily(Food and water included which is awfully priced).Now,imagine guy who can spend at the most 100 rupees on a film.What do you want him to do?Stop watching films?Watch 6-10 movies a year?Where were all these producers when multiplexes were raising money without thinking of an average income audience?Single screen theatres are being taken over by multiplexes one by one.This isn’t gonna stop.
I do not think that producers are facing losses.You think Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan don’t know that their films are being sold out of railway stations?They know!But the fact is that 20% on every sale goes straight into the hands of the producer.This is why they are calm and sometimes pretend as if they are getting affected.
Why do you think despite of so many flops,so many movies are financed every year?A considerable amount of recovery is also made by producers from pirated movies(Because sometimes you have to buy Aloo chat with Ghajini,so you see even flop films are benefited)
Also Dawood and Rajan run this trade of pirated films.They are also investing in films hugely.So no one is gonna talk against them.
So my friend,if you see in a larger context,piracy will continue because everyone is getting profit from it.
Chill!
Dude, i understand that Aamir Khan or SRK and for that matter Rakesh Maria is also aware of the pirated DVD being sold on footpath, bang opposite the police headquarters, but can you believe that the DVD is out two days before the release.
Look at the amount of losses to the film industry.
i am not stopping anybody to watch a movie on DVD..but atleast we can wait till the time it released officially..can’t we?
And what made me furious is, some of the responsible and big people from Adlabs and UFO were involved in this. Now gone are the days when a chandu bhai use to record the film on a handy cam…u can get the master DVD much before the release.
Moreover its people like us who are buying these DVD’s and encouraging them…my sincere request, please dont do that. If you cant watch it in a multiplex, wait till the time DVD is released.
Totally agree on exorbitant ticket prices in multiplexes. I live in the US and even here – the best of multiplexes (which beat our average multiplex hands down in quality of everything btw) don’t charge more than $10 for a ticket.. this in real purchasing power terms translates to Rs. 100. Why are these stupid places in India able to charge almost double that?
Ashubhai- yes piracy is a bane indeed.But what happens in case of
1. Hollywood films and world cinema where either the original DVD is not available or priced exhorbitantly ?
2. What about Hindi and regional film DVD’s priced exhorbitantly ( eg- Gulaal original DVD @ 299 )?
Moser Baer is leading the way on the pricing front.We need others to also do soemthing similar.Not all can and will afford DVD’s at 299,399 etc.
DTH services providing Pay Per View is another genuine way to watch movies.For eg- Tata Sky is currently showing Agyaat,Kaminey and Chintuji.
All said and done I do agree nothing beats the mazaa of watching a movie on a big screen- whatever be the movie.
Even if the cost of the DVD is 299, still if a family of 4 or a gang of 8-10 boys watching it vil cost you less thn 50. Plus you can enjoy smoking, drinking, you can take calls, you can rewind it if you missed any dialogue and if you liked it, the DVD is with you. You can watch is whenever you want. I have watched Gulaal over 20 times, the first one in the theatre, remaining on DVD.
Yes, the measures you have mentioned are a step towards putting a full stop towards piracy…and the whoe idea of this post was that only. I welcome everybody to have a discussion and make notes of the measures which can be taken to minimise it.
the primary being make pirated DVD sales as an absolute crime of cheating, and the law enforcing agencies not recognising that pirated DVDs are being sold and not taking action, be questioned… Question to a lot of film makers who are in PFC… honest one… do people in the film world live in a little different world, like people who would never roam anywhere close to railway stations, and markets that they never see the pirated DVDs and call up police folks?
Ashu, i had raised this issue long time back in my posts on Movie Marketing.
The problem is the uneven pricing and distribution structure, lemme give my example, i stay in Bhubaneshwar, though its a capital city, its more of a small town, with just 5 theaters, most of them show only the masala Hindi stuff or the big budget ones. I want to see something like Gulaal or Barah Anna, either have to wait for the DVD or watch it sometime later on TV, which i hate doing with all those irritating ad breaks. While i generally wait it out, i am not sure every 1 wud be as patient. The pirates operate their business, because they see a need for it.
For some one in Bangalore or Mumbai, they get to see the latest flicks, but what about people in places like Roorkee or Kharagpur, places with just 1-2 theaters, and that too showing more masala stuff. I am not trying to justify or condone piracy, but if we were to combat it, we need to understand why it exists in the first place.
RS – it exists because people like us buying it. I know there is a huge chunk of people who will still buy the pirated DVD’s no matter what, but the whole idea was to minimise it as far as we can.
What pinched me most was the biggies involved in the piracy racket. Imagine a production manager or a BDM of big cinema or shemaroo is doing this shameful thing, whom shud we trust?
I agree that there is a problem, in small places where there are either very few theatres or just a single screen theatre…and we cannot do much about it. But atleast we can do our bit by not encouraging the piracy.
The people who lose out on piracy are not the movie producers, its mostly the distributors and exhibitors who get hit the hardest.
One way out i had suggested is setting up of smaller Video Parlors or DVD Parlors kind, where the DVD’s of movies like Barah Anna or Frozen could be shown to the audiences. This should actually reach out to more audiences, and also help the spread of pirated stuff.
As Sethu suggested Tata Sky, Reliance Big are now showing the latest movies on cable at a price, so this could in a way, people see the latest movies, even if they are not released in theaters.
I welcome the suggestions…and lets have more and more suggestions coming in to minimise it. The way we have started a forum to help promoting low budget movies, we can even put pur points across to do our bit for cinema.
I have watched many of world cinema classic in pirated dvds,i guess it was pirated dvds which help us discover many gems from all over world.
Black Friday was out, on pirated dvds i guess it did more good to anurag than harm.
What abt intellctual piracy, majority of Hindi Films are lift of from hollywood films.
You mentioned that you saw films like Bachelor Party in multiplex, but waht about a middle class family, the ticket rates are not realistic.
If producers were keen to stop it, they would have done, it down south they have managed that, in the end it is the will of producer.
There are pirated dvd seller outside every railway station in mumbai, why do not the producers take action them.
The price of product will ultimatley decided by customer.
You mentioned that we should wait for official Dvd, but then it simple case of supply and demand.
I agree that anurag is what he is, cos of piracy. I remember somewhere he even mentiond in one of his interview…but just a simple question – would he promote piracy just because its has laid the foundation of his success? I am sure he wont.
I agree again that its a simple case of demand and supply..but its a solution as well – if you dont demand, they wont supply.
I think piracy helps keep prices in check and fuels innovation (like the Apple model with ITunes and online distribution of content).
Like some comments have pointed out, pirated discs are the only way one sometimes has access to content. I live in the US and I could watch Taare Zameen Par only thru a pirated disc. Why? Coz greedy Mr. Aamir Khan has tied up with Warner (or Sony) to release the DVD in North America .. He has this delusion that the goras love him and will wait in line for the DVD if it gets released thru a US studio distribution network as opposed to the standard EROS channel… Sadly its been almost 2 years since the film had a theatrical release and no one here has seen a legit DVD yet! But every desi has seen the film somehow ;-)
In a way Aamir has benefited. While he hasn’t made a dime from the home video market in the US, the people here got a chance to watch the film and appreciate Aamir’s talent as a director and producer. I am sure TZP also had some positive impact on the movie going public here for the next Aamir starrer, Ghajini.
So who do you blame here? Should the Indian diaspora take a moral stand and forego watching a supposedly good film for years until the greedy producer thinks it’s the right time for the audience to watch it… or should the producer use his brain and make the film available on a home video format while it stays fresh in the public memory?
On a parting note, I think the home video format for Indian films is a real rip-off. I spent $25 for a Blu-Ray disc of “Lage Raho Munnabhai”, only to find a poorly remastered, grainy film that’s nothing more than a glorified DVD! If I am expected to buy a legit disc then should I not get my money’s worth? If EROS and the other sutdios think they can rip off consumers like this then I only hope piracy prevails!
Companies like Moser Baer, EROS need to learn how to make DVDs. Last month I had bought DVDs of Kill Bill distributed by EROS. Will you believe me if I told you that it had Airtel Ads shown after every 20 mins. And instead of subtitle, we had a airtel slogan making appearance on the screen after every minute. Such a nuisanace it was that I broke the DVD into 2 after watching it. I will rather buy a 25$ dvd from US than buy a 200 Rs DVD distributed by Indian distributors.
Same goes for Moser Baer. Look at the DVDs that they sell. As soon as you start the DVD you will get a full 10 min lecture on piracy, which is fast forward and menu protected. What the heck!!! Are they selling it to me for free?? And then these distributors will blame the audience for downloading movies. Heck, the downloaded print is much better than the so called original print in India.
Its ironic that one who actually buys has to endure all the preach about piracy, while the pirated things have none of them.
He He. thats really ironic!!
JahanPanah – the life is full of irony. Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone. The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with
someone you don’t want to be seen with. …and so on.
The biggest iron is, everybody is in favor of piracy here
I have seen almost all good works of American and world cinema through torrent download culture of my college. I am in support of ‘cinemausher’ that it was pirated dvds which help us discover many gems from all over world. Its very hard for me not to download any movie still knowing impact of it. Film industry is not coming down due to piracy, even if it comes down alternative ways will be discovered by producers to make money. The price of product with supply- demand balance will ultimatley decide the faith of cutomers.
When people talk about piracy they mostly talk about the pirated dvds. Isn’t downloading the Dvd-Rips from various sites and through torrent also comes under piracy? But then I guess that this sudden change in the view of the people towards cinema and exposure to the world cinema has been possible because of those readily available movies on internet. It’s not possible for anyone to watch all those world-class movies that they boast of watching by buying the Dvds of those movies.
@ Jahanpanah, exposure of the people to the world cinema is done through internet revolution in India. Otherwise, it was just these “Producers” who manufacture their movie through copying hollywood movies. And that was not even called “plagiarism”, it was ‘adaptation’. Great intellectual pirates are now giving lectures to us of honesty.[ Not directed towards to you, ashubhaimaprmwale]
No. Forget about Bollywood. I’m talking in general.
Even hollywwod productions houses are keeping a check on bollywood, if they are remaking the hollywood movies without buying the rights to do so.
continuing..
..but then people do argue that sharing is totally legal it’s human trait. People share their thoughts through blogs and want to share their precious stuffs etc. So if someone has brought the DVD and sharing it through internet, its fine but is it really? How much ethical?
@Jahanpanah – its fine as far as you have bought the original DVD and not a pirated one. Even if you have bought the original DVD, its obvious that your friends may borrow it from you and copy it on your system.
have mentionsed about the websites in my post…the registration charges are as low as 1$. Plus as you mentioned by you the torrents and limewires of the world.
You may have your own reasons to watch it on internet…
Stealing is stealing and no amount of rationalizing is going to change that; just because you do it out of your love for cinema does not make it right.
No matter what…i will stand by it. There are many great movies i havent watched it yet (rock on is one of them)…but I will rather buy a original DVD and watch it.
yaar Rock to kissi bhi DVD library main mil jayega. Star Movies pe 25 baar to maine dekha hai aate huye. I hope you are not waiting for its theatrical re-release in India
No Dude..its just i din got the chance to watch it. I have the ORIGINAL Ddvd…still I have not been able to watch it cos of some work commitments. I know its sad that a movie lover like me havent watched it..but its true. Now a long weekend is coming, vil surely watch it now. Thanks for reminding me
@Kumar,laws are made for the society, not the vice versa. If the whole public is stealing producer’s money through piracy, then there is something wrong with the system itself.
its not as simple as you make it out..as someone already said, you are only talking from the producer’s perspective. There was a time when Shemaroo or Moserbaer (dont remember exactly who) were selling original DVDs for Rs60-70. If they could continue that, trust me 70% of the people who now watch movies on pirated DVDs would buy the original ones. But the truth is they charge exorbitant prices, for DVDs, for tickets etc so that a SRK or Aamir can charge 10 crore per film. Not everyone can afford to watch every film for Rs 175 each like you. Most people will not steal things from the supermarket. But most people will watch a pirated dvd..why do you think that is the case?
@FR:stealing from supermarket was a bad example. let me tell you why. people dont steal from supermarket because there is lesser chance [lets say zero] of them getting away due to security and RF tags attached to products. but in case of dvd piracy, there is lesser chance[lets say zero] of getting caught because there is no one tracking netizens and no one tracking buyers/hawkers on the street. once in a bluemoon, the police conducts raids and piracy drives by raiding a few stores, then all runs well for next 6-8 months :(
@ CR- Well said. I am just trying to dig a image i have seen long back. A policeman buying a pirated DVD from footpath. Ghar me chora, shehar me dhindhora !
If its we who are buying a pirated DVD…than trust me, its we the people who can darg them down to sell the DVD’s again in 50 or 60 bucks…Will have to change ourself first to change the system.
@ashubhai: well written…but suffers from sense of deja-vu. piracy is not killing just movie market and distributors/exhibitors; its killing even book market. pdf files of dan brown’s new book is out already. and people there too are giving the same reason that the book costs too much etc.
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everyone wants to watch/read, but nobody wants to spend money on it. thats the problem. its in the psyche to find things that are cheap or free, else we feel ripped-off. this issue has to be addressed.
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having said that, moser baer is doing the right thing by coming up with movies 3-in-1 dvd for 45/-. but people dont want to wait and buy the dvd. they would rather download from net and watch it. there’s the problem, the psyche :(
You identified it right…the problem is WE dont want to change ourselves…this issue has to be addressed.
Ashu sir… as much as we would want to change ourselves, it will end up being one of the most futile attempts, like a lot of smokers trying to quit…the deal remains why have illict liquor stores and then say below 18 not allowed…. is it not a mockery of system?… what should the system do, take stern actions that, chalta hai chalne do kinds…when will the authority take the action, when victims of the drunkard complain, and complain regularly… this issue has to be addressed, and kept addressing by the film fraternity more than anybody else… its a loss of their intellectual asset… and they have to keep safe guarding it… once a parent starts to attend to his kid, the parents friends and guests start paying attention to whats going on to the kid as well… audience will start seeing changes in their own purview when they read more about how film makers ensured that police remains behind the pirates… till then it will always be, arre uska khud kuch nahi jaa rahaa, apna kya farak padhta hai … somebody has to show the respect for others to follow, and that starts right at home and then flows out….
, the context used hopefully will be understood)
(Disclaimer, I have no problems with boozing, I have a problem when not boozing
Its easy dude..if you want to quit smoking you can do it..if you dont want to, trust me you will never be able to. Thr is no such thing called trying to leave. Either u leave or you dont. The call is yours
Again the problem is same, we the people dont want to change. The liquor stores are similar to that of piracy market. They are selling cos minors are buying. They wont say no, cos they are making money out of it. But its we who are loosing on the money, and at the same time, feeling proud to make a mockery of the system.
Trust me, the minor who bought liquor from the store will feel more proud that despite being just 14 years, he is able to get the liquor, thn the shop owner being feeling proud of selling to the minor.
and thats why you need that parent to give rap questioning the one selling the drink and the one buying it… now… actually I can understand why people in US can Sue Marlboro and kinds even after smoking for 40 years and then saying that the cancer warning was way too small to read, and win the case as well… it just makes sure that the company takes all possible steps to safeguard themseleves and stay within the legal framework, similarly cinema industry folks have to start taking the upper hand…. in no means am I suggesting that the common man shouldn’t.. of course we all should…. with film makers being miyan and distributors/sellers, legal or illegal, being biwi…..and they invariably are raji, then the audience and people do end up being the unable to do much kaaji…
I used to watch movies till I wuz a bachelor every sunday noon which ended up in a beer session with friends discussing the movie. After I got married and got a kid, its impossible for me to go to a theater.
I dont care about producer, director, pop corn wala or anyone else involved. After all the colleagues, friends, everyone discusses the movie and I feel left out. If you dont want people to watch pirated movies, stop the piracy. If its available in the video store, I will buy. I wont change.
Thats your call…even i dont care abt the pop corn walla or the ice cream walla..but i care for my ethics which dont allow me to buy a pirated DVD. Even i wont change.
We are talking about a country where a majority of people, live under below poverty line and less than dollar.Gulaal at 299 is big no, to majority of people at time, when Dev.D with extra features is Sold for 125.
Mobile operators came out with innovative plans, why can’t our producers?
They are trying their heart to put a stop on this…and we need to do our bit. Thats it. You watch gulaal with 10 of your friends and it will cost less thn 30 bucks…much less thn a multiplex theatre. The producers can come up with some measures to control and minimise it…but without OUR support, its next to impossible.
Ashu, i reiterate this again, the basic problem is that our movie marketing tactics suck. Barring established production houses like YRF or Dharma, most of our movie makers never pay adequate attention to marketing. Movie makers in Hollywood, have aggressively taepped non theatrical sources like DVD, online rentals, Check into Amazon, every 3rd rate Hollywood flick can be found there.
Lemme give ya one example, i did a search for I Spit On Your Grave, an absolute B-Grade Movie if ever there was one. But this B Grade stuff had a synopsis, connection to similiar kinda B-Grade movies, User Reviews, Discussions.
Then I did a search for Ardh Satya, one of the finest Indian Movies ever made, what do i see just a DVD cover, no synopsis, no comments, no user reviews, Come on is this the way we treat our cinematic heritage. Putting up a synopsis or user reviews on Amazon is not Rocket Science. Why this kind of callous attitude towards our movie heritage?
You want to combat piracy, improve your marketing, make DVD’s more affordable, try online rentals. Simply appealing to moral conscience is not going to work, its a business at end of day, you want it succeed, you have to go and sell it.
I Spit on your grave is a cult grindhouse B movie. It is available everywhere, in India too.
woohooo! am glad ashu bhai maprm has ignited a debate here which hopefully might do some good as far as piracy is concerned… even if one of us who have read this post, aleast thinks twice while buying a pirated copy, the post will have done its job. i am totally wid ashu as far as piracy is concerned. being a film aspirant myself, the least i can do is go for the original, especially as the cd/dvd prices are coming down so heavily.
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though the same thoughts and sentiments may not hold good for people who are into cinema cuz there is nothing better to do… but hell, here we’re talkin on a forum that goes by the name ‘passion for cinema’so that automatically excludes the ‘fly-by-night’ operators.
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that said, this a step in the right direction & lets hope piracy dies its own death, insha allah soon. Good jawb bro ashu. magik ki jhappi
Thanks a lot dude…all i needed is everyone to come forward and put the points to minimise it if not stop it fully.
Piracy is not the problem, problem is with the movie itself. I dont buy a pack of cigarettes to help people in getting their jobs, I buy them because I enjoy smoking them. Same is true for everything else. Look at the prices of tickets around and then compare it with the satisfaction that you derive after watching the movie. 90 out of 100 times people are disappointed. If there is a lack of trust in the movie, dont blame the movie goer, the film maker is to blame. I dont blame the audience when they try to watch the latest release on a pirated DVD. After all how long can a person remain faithful if you break his trust every friday.
In college, I used to watch a movie almost every day and mone of them was paid for. Now, I try to repay the debt of some of those movies which I had liked, by buying their original DVDs, but I was not in a position to afford the same while in college. Piracy will not only survive, but also thrive. You cannot defeat piracy by destroying some players. Improve the content and you can reduce its effect.
@ Azad – You smoke cos you feel like. Lets assume that you smoke Classic Milds which cost you Rs 88 a pack now. And you are smoking when it was costing you 50 or 55. Did you stopped it? No na…or just because its costing you 90 bucks now, you will not shift your brand to a four square or a charms…why with the DVD thn?
And as far as the content of the movies are concerned …imagine the kind of movies which were there a decade back – suraj, chandaal, yara dildara, bhabhi, jeena sirf tere liye, mujhe kuch kehna hai, etc etc…and see the level of intellectual movies coming now – gulaal, dev d, kaminey, sankat city, A wednusday, OLLO, etc etc. Cinema is changing…some of the amazing movies we are seeing now. As the content is also improving, so as the rates of the DVD’s. But yes, there is a need to drop the rates so that many of us can buy it. Plus, the DVD release plan shud not be after a couple of months…it shud be just 2 weeks after the release.
Why dont you understand the very simple reason that even at 94 rs a pack, I find cigarettes to be pleasure worthy and even at 20rs a ticket there will be people who find it obnoxiously priced.
Cinema is changing? shayad, but of all the hindi movies that I have seen this year I came out satisfied only after watching Luck By Chance, DevD and Kaminey. All others duped me of my money. And looking at the huge list of block busters lined up, I dont have any intention of watching any more hindi cinema this year in theatre. There are many people out there who will stop spending on movies unless the content improves.
how will you know if the movie is gud or bad till the time you watch it…thr are many movies which are a big big flop, but i liked it..cos i can connect myself to it. And at the same time thr are many block busters which I dont like…but i decided once i watched it. You can not always get the best deal. You go to a hotel and if you dont find the food is no gud, doesnt mean tht you wont eat out again. You will.
Downloading the movies vs. renting the movies from a shop, which one is better? Note that you are not buying the Dvd in both the cases, the direct profit is not going to the producers.
@Jahanpanah: if u are renting from a shop that houses original dvd, then profit is to both the video store and producer/distributor who brought out the dvds. if u download, its free and no one gets the anything.
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in fact, one person uploads a movie and 1000’s download. imagine, even if 100 of them had purchased/rented the original dvd then how much profit could have been realised
I asked in my previous post that how much ethical is downloading?
Renting a movie from shop housing original Dvds give profit to producers but its one time profit only and the shopkeeper will rent it several times. So the profit will be his. It’s like downloading?
The shopkeeper is making money cos he has bought the original DVD @ 299. He has already invested in it. And producer and the company has already made their money by selling it to the shopkeeper. Producer gets the entire money in one go while the shopkeeper has to rent it out several times to get a break even and thn make profits.
@CR – Well said. I agree
But if the DVD is original, he has already made his profit by selling the DVD rights.
@ All PFCites – I think you are taking my post as from the producers POV. Trust me, its not like that. I am standing by with the cinema. I know producers are making huge money by selling the rights of the movie..and its will be going from our pocket only. But imagine a Master DVD is out two days before the release, the kind of loss is for producer..and for cinema as well.
I am not in opposition of buying or renting or copying the movie…i am in opposition of Piracy.
@Azad,
Completely
Ashu Sir… can you see the number of responses generated by just one of your posts??? It always strengthens a cause when people see somebody responsibly doing something …when Alyque Padamsee goes on a mumbai clean up drive, quite a lot of people actually think twice about dropping garbage on the road at least for a day or 2… when Vishal Dadlani raises a signature campaign people sign up to it… but when you see film personalities just coming on screen and asking folks not to watch pirated movies, the thought that strikes is, is this all you can do??? thats it? when have we read in the papers that YRF or the factory or Red Chillies or Aamir khan productions increases pressure on police against piracy, or some celebrities turning the heat on the piracted market??? unless we try to keep our house clean, even a guest would keep it untidy…the initiation has to start from the fraternity itself… and keep the momentum going, and people would react accordingly…
@PS – thats the need of the hour. When a Alyque or a Vishal can start signature campaign and can makes a diff, why cant a common man like us can do it. We can. All we need is to come together….
Absolutely, and I agree with everything that you ve said Ashu, my only point is that the degree of importance, if not paid by film makers themselevs, then it becomes a half battle… additionally, the reach that the celebrities can get for immediately is much much away from we can achive in a short period of time (thats why they are paid moolahs for endorsements) … If Rajeev Shukla can get into action for SRK frisking, then SRK should equally involve him when they know Piracy is as much a reality as the sea facing his house… somewhere down if its going to be only a common man issue… then my sincere opinion is, if we do form a forum of people, then we should be addressing lawlessness (simple traffic signal offences, eve teasing offences to Pirated DVDs to Hostile witnesses), education for all, higher pays for Police and teachers, bijli sadak pani, and no compromise on low quality of life before film piracy
…. the strength has to come from within…. my point is if i dont respect my dad, you as my friend can pity him, feel bad for him, but not respect him…. it has to be the same way, with YRF and Red Chillies and Dharma, and Aamir Khan Productions and all the others to start addressing these concerns and take legal actions against them…. I am pretty sure though, that with more FDIs coming into our cinema industry like FOX and UNIVERSAL and WALT DISNEY others, and Miramax already suing White Feather over Kaante, once these guys come in, there will be a lot of changes and legal actions taken … the question is why do we have to wait for these international people to walk in and set the regulations right for us… they are not the law makers, so how do they make sure that their product is fine (wait and watch, they will) …. the genuine concern has to start from the legal owner of the intellectual property for the maximum results..
Been reading the comments from all PFC folks through out on this post. Did not have anything to add but one questions keeps coming to my mind, how come police/industry people dont do anything about all the shops (n i’m not talking abt the road side chaps who sell dvds on a cart) where pirated dvds are sold/rented out openly. Is giving a police complain or letting it know on a web forum good enough to close down all these shops??
thrs no point in catching thm…the big fish is sitting somewhere in afghanistan or karachi…but yes, atelast they can get a link.
But these days, police is getting more agression from the producers associations and several raids has been done recently. According to our law, its an offence to even buy a pirated dvd. But as we dont care abt it, even the law dont.
I guess Hindi Film Industry for that matter has outgrown piracy, looking at collection which producers claim , piracy should not be concern.
If they were serious, any production house, they should take action, ten minutes from YRF studio, you have pirated dvd seller, i wonder how the people from yrf did not see the dvd guy.
Whenever a movie flops, due to bad content, the producers blame on piracy.
It is just an excuse like our communists, who blame America for every thing.
But abt this case…the movie is not even released, and the DVD is out. Forget abt hit or flop.
@Ashu,
yeah i agree, then people are not to blamed, because those who are supposed to safeguard the movie are indulging in piracy, the Mumbai Mirror Report shows that piracy racket was run by those in higher posts, in this case .
I do not believe that such a racket can run just under the nose of producer, without them knowing.
True. The idea is not to blame anybody…its just abt doin out bit. While reading and replying on the comments, i understand that there are many things which are not in our control.
And as addressed by most of us, the problem is the unavailability of theatres, sky-high prices of multiplexes, etc. Still if so many brain come together, i am sure there can be way out of it. If not putting a full stop, but atleast a comma can be put to minimise it.
Yeh maara kaan ke niche piracy waale ko…. sahi pick kiya Ashubhai… nice nice post and topic to discuss Ashubhai.. Most of us here are not in favour of piracy but still we watch because sometimes unable to watch at bigscreen due to limited theatre release or many other reasons…or yeh filmi keeda manta hi nahi… even me too is against piracy… to stop I think the best way is dvd release at cheap price and that too at right time… and as Ratnakar said small video parlour for small cities etc… but yaar something has to be done and too at bigger level…
@ Akash – Mere Bhai, bahut der lagayee aate aate sarkaar.
Anyways…thanks for the comment. And i am happy that I am not alone here…i have the entire PFC with me to stand by. Am sure if we can point out few things which need to be addressed and get through the right forum, even the producers and multiplexes will be forced to bring down the cost of tickets and DVD’s. Plus many other things like releasing the DVD’s shortly, video parlors, Satellite right to BigTv and Tata Sky etc.
Well, you have to realize that internet piracy has pros and cons.
It takes over a month to get a watchable copy of a Hollywood movie (known as R5 source). Most of the earlier releases are Cam or TC. And, they are not watchable.
But, it only takes 2-3 days to get a watchable copy of a Bollywood movie and that’s where everything is going wrong.
DVDSCR (pretty good quality) of Dil Bole Hadippa, wanted were released the next day on net and you can imagine the loss now.
IMO, only UTV is doing something to stop these releases. It took a week or two to get a watchable copy of Aage Se right on net. But, others are just sleeping and crying over piracy.
Today, the main source of piracy is the internet and not pirated dvds. You’ve to take down the Indian torrent sites and many of them being located in USA, it’s not a tough job. I remember emailing anti piracy cell of Yash Raj about the PDVD rips of Rab ne bana di jodi but they didn’t take any action.
But, but, DVDrip of a Bollywood movie is a pretty good option if you want to spread your movie to worldwide audience. I don’t think producers earn much through dvd sales and by the time dvd is released, producers have already earned their revenue. Time is changing, and I’m seeing more and more Bollywood movies on “Scene” websites and warez. It helps a lot in spreading the movie.
If Bollywood wants to reach to the west, internet is the only way. There are many people who want to watch different types of cinema.
Anyway, accept it or not, piracy is the only way to measure the popularity of your movie (in terms of content).
If your movie is not popular among pirates then that means your movie is shit because your movie is so bad that people don’t even want to watch it for free.
What about the other form of movie piracy? The piracy of movie ideas, plots, scenes and songs.
At least, Ashu makes original movies but most of the other ones copy movies from Hollywood or European cinema and pass them off as their own. If their work is stolen from someone else and someone else steals from them its karma.
You care that Dil Bole Hadippa’s DVD rip came online the next day. But what about the movie itself which stole the story from “She’s the Man”.
You said you emailed the anti piracy cell of Yash Raj about the PDVD rips of Rab ne bana di jodi but did you email the makers of Memento, Oldboy, Reservoir Dogs and so many more that their movies were plagiarized?
In India, thieves who are caught are almost beaten to death by people. But these Bollywood thieves not only get a pass,
they instead get awards and a lot of money.
I think that one should support original movies by watching their legal versions but when one knows that it is a ripoff then one should watch the pirated version so that those thieves don’t get a dime of our hard earned money.
Sputnik, that ain’t piracy that is called “Inspiration”.
They may call it “Inspiration” and try to get away with it but it is piracy/stealing.
According to Websters dictionary
piracy: the unauthorized use of another’s production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piracy
plagiarize
: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own : use (another’s production) without crediting the source
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarizing
Well, I think Hollywood people are watching Bollywood themselves. So, you don’t need to worry about future rip offs. But, I do feel bad about Memento. I pray that Mr. Nolan file a law suit against the makers of Ghajini.
A piracy is a piracy…you will have to have a DVD to copy it on your com and upload on internet. Forget abt the fate of the movie..wut we dont want is piracy. Let it be decided by the audience and not by the pirated DVD sale. You cannot judge based on tht, cos u vil get agyaat free with RNBDJ or Kaminey.
Stopping Piracy is it impossible? No is it improbable? Yes.The major factor is price.Unless the prices of tickets come down to next to nothing (which its not going to)nothings gonna change.People don’t want 2 spend money to go & watch every film in the theatres & most Hindi Films r utter rubbish which don’t deserve to be seen in theatres.The police also give this topic very low priority.Internet piracy will always exist.So i think it’s a bit futile.By the way BOLLYWOOD is the biggest pirate of all, copying films right,left & centre.Only now they’ve started to copy legally that too after being forced.
Regards,
Santino
Like one can’t suppress prostitution, which is now a days a cool fashion.
Piracy can’t be stopped , controlled may be.
thats wht the intention is…if not stop it, atleast minimize it.
What kind of narrow mentality is this? If you’re passionate about buying designer labels, expensive watches, sparkling crystal, exclusive liqueur, hi-tech gadget, jewellery or any such thing which commands a certain price, you buy it reagrdless of the price tag attached to it. You save and scrounge to get it. You yearn for it because you’re passionate about it. Compare these passions to your passion for cinema and you’re cringing at 2/300 bucks? You want to claim that you love good movies but don’t want to pay for watching them? Phoney, in my opinion. Piracy is immoral and no amount of argument can justify the act of doing it. No matter what excuses you try to hide behind.
@Aarti – Am with you. People dont eat bad food to save money, they dont wear torn clothes…even if they din like the food, they wud always go for one of the best hotels..they ever think twice before spending 1000 / 2000 bucks (easily), thn why compromise on movies.
Of course it’s wrong but it’s a bit wishful to think it’ll stop.
its not abt wishful thinking..its abt our wish to do it.
Man u r not getting the point.Not every1 is passionate about cinema like u or me.For lots of people it’s just tp.Best of luck in ur efforts 2 stop it.
Some folks asking if we can spend on food and dresses, why not on movies, well there is a big difference here. Before i buy a dress, i have the liberty of trying it out, checking if it fits or not,is comfortable, and then i pay. I get the value for my money, because i have checked out various options, so even if i spend 1000 on clothes, i don’t feel cheated, coz i know its good. And same goes with food too, where i spend say around 400 for a decent restaurant, and I can go home not feeling cheated.
When you are speaking of movies, its a different ball game. During the 90’s, i used to watch every movie in the theaters, even absolute stinkers, because the ticket prices were low, so i knew that even if the movie was a con job, I would not really lose much. Now consider a multiplex scenario, while there are movies like A Wednesday or Tahan or Barah Anna, how many shows do they have. They would be pushed into some slot, that is too late, or something not suiting my timings. And the alternative, i have is to spend around 500, now imagine if the product is something like Drona or Kindap, i come out feeling conned, and it sucks coz i know i have paid more.
Agree sir jee, but i am sure it wud have happend with you that you may have tried some new hotel and the food was “bakwaas”, still you wud have paid the bill…so it happens. Same with the movies. We go to movies after seeing the promos, reviews, etc etc. Still if we are not liking it means its not meant for us. Kambakth Ishq is the recent example. One of the biggest hit in recent times, but i din liked it. But yes it was a hit. So you never know till the time you see it.
if the food is bad at least u can complain..some good hotels they give u some other options…Is it possible in case of a multiplex where u are conned of 500 bucks in the name of ticket, pop corn,soft drinks?..
Anyway examples aside, my take is that if you want to combat piracy, improve the marketing, distribution of movies. Simply appealing to something vague like “moral conscience, ethics” is not going to help.
Compare your salary package now to what you were earning then. And it’s not like watching some movies a month burns a big hole in your pocket. People with a pssion for body buliding spend around 4-5 grand a month on a good gym/spa. Movie watching is an indulgence. You do it because you like doing it. Sometimes you enjoy the experience, sometimes you don’t. And if you want to be SOOOOOO careful about getting your money’s worth then wait for some days before watching it. Read reviews, people’s reactions, box office reports etc and then go for it. Even then, you might find your taste differing from the masses. To be so vociferously critical about feeling cheated when you watch a crappy movie is beyond me. Mat dekho bhai, koi zabardasti thodi hai. Materialistic passion does not come for free…gotta pay for it folks.
Thanks for the advice Aarti, thats what i do anyway. And for that matter i don’t spend much on pirated DVD’s not out of any ethical compulsions, but because the quality is rubbish,so many times movie gets stuck, can’t run it. And to be honest, my movie watching has come down a lot, but that’s not just because of the money factor, there are other reasons.
Thanks aarti. Thats exactly what i wanted to say. All i am requesting is, wait till the DVD is out. Atleast don encourage Piracy…
Then there’s a difference here. Because we do feel cheated, because we have come in a theatre to be allowed to be treated to an experience. And yes, we do feel grandly cheated if the film is a copy or crappy. Mat dekho? How do we know first hand whether its crappy or no. Materialistic passion may not be free, but it need not be so damn costly. I wont pay 250 bucks a ticket so that a superstar can build another illegal building by the sea!
I am poor indian viewer with not much money, trying to live my life peacefully thts all. I would not prefer to shell out 200 or 250 for a movie in a multiplex. I also dont want to watch a movie on the release day itself. So i usually see films very late after its original DVDs are out or is shown in TV. But having said tht, i will watch the film if i get a good DVD without checking whether it is pirated or not. But as a a viewer, i watch more malayalam films, and I should say the quality of pirated DVDs of those films is very bad.So i will not watch. What I was about to tell was all bollywood producers, make a cut on the heroes sky high fees and get some protection for your property
@Arti, In India, prostitution is immoral and illegal, but so many people does it and some people even supports it.
I would say, the fees and profit film people are getting is too much. My company or me does not get tht much even if I work/code/consult for more than 12 hours. I dont think my coding skills are very inferior than acting
If the movie is a HIT, the producers make money, music company make money, singers make money, actors make money(endorsements and future), pirates make money,the officials who helped pirates make money, CD makers make money, channels make money,and above all viewers see the movie at a lesser cost, ..and all make money. Its the millions of indian’s money anyway..If the movie is bad , sometimes even the pirates will not get ROI. quality determines everything. When you get something in its appropriate/correct price, you will not go the other way.
This is only one form of corruption, when you didnt get something done thru proper channel , you try to get it done by bribing..or some other way..
Pirates any ways make money…aloo chat with RNBDJ, agyaat with Kaminey etc etc. If you wanna buy a pirated kaminey, you vil get agyaat muft muft muft….tin tin tinin
Crazyrals, in trying to find flaws in my example, you missed the actual point. The point I was trying to make was a distinction between thieves and those who buy pirated dvds. Most people are not thieves, but most people will buy a pirated DVD. The reason is a very simple explanation in Economics – equilibrium price. Any product charged at a price higher than the equilibrium price will not find any takers. Original DVD prices HAVE to come down for piracy to die. You middle class to lower middle class people with average incomes to buy DVDs for Rs300 so that Shahrukh Khan can charge 10 crore per film. Well this has to change…Once original DVD prices come down, most people will stop buying pirated DVDs. If that means SRK making 5 crores instead of 10 crores then be it.
@FR: i was not trying to find flaws in your example. your example was flawed to begin with. and no amount of economic equilibrium and high dvd pricing can justify yours or anybody’s acts of piracy. piracy is daylight robbery
.
which srk dvd costs 300/-. tell me i shall send you 10 dvds of srk! all his movies, even under yrf banner, are available for 149/-. why dvd, go for vcds which cost 99/-. anything but piracy. and plz dont bring in the 5 crore and 10 crore tags here. what are you comparing? his paycheck and yours?? stars get paid by producers/financiers. how is that even relevant here. we are discussing piracy and not star pricing. both are mutually exclusive. even if srk did a movie for free, his movies will be pirated and you wil buy it.
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and plz stop cribbing about the price. i repeat, its the freakin human psyche of wanting things for free
@CR – Well said..there is a option of VCD’s also available, which I had missed. And VCD will always cost u less. So there are ways and means, we need to find out.
Thanks buddy !
Piracy is definitely the biggest threat to the film industry. Piracy increased mostly with the arrival of cheap CDs. but still the prints were of bad quality as mostly the pirated copies were the handycam versions shot from a cinema hall. later Indian films started releasing on over 1000 prints so for the pirates to obtain the original prints became really easy what with now films releasing even in Pakistan and Saudi Arab. so now even pirated copies were of DVD like quality. at present the biggest threat is internet-download piracy because of the increase in speed of internet connection and cheap unlimited download connections. I believe Indian film industry still has a lot of earning potential. If there were enough theatres/cinema halls in India and there was no piracy revenues would be atleast 5 times higher(really i mean it). major revenues of the films are from big cities because smaller towns do not have good theatres/cinema halls. I can say that because even i belong to a small town presently living in Delhi.
I dont think that the audiences can be blamed for piracy. the truth is that atleast 90% of the people do not commit a crime because of fear of being caught. so if they will get pirated movies at a much cheaper price they will see it, no matter what. I dont think that we can change that or be emotinal about it. Rather measures has to be taken to decrease piracy and make efforts for setting up effective laws against piracy.
some measures i can think of are:
*increase/revival of theatres/cinema halls in small towns. reliance Big Cinemas has recently opened many multiplexes in smaller towns(like Sirsa, Muzaffarnagar) with rates comparable/slightly higher than single screen but with great facilities. I guess other chains can also do that instead of just concentrating on metros.(its much easier to setup a multiplex in a smaller town because land/rental rates are much cheaper and small towns really have lot of potential)
*if they are downloading it anyway, earn yourself rather than letting anyone else earn. legal internet downloading soon after the film release has already been introduced but still people do not use it much. Why? simply because its not convenient. most of these options require a credit card which an average person in India don’t possess or is not comfortable using it online. also the rates are higher than it should be. the key is to decrease the rates(maybe 30 Rs. for one download) and popularise it. this can be done through giving options of vouchers which can be bought through retail like mobile recharge vouchers. Reliance can do it easily with their large number of stores/reliance fresh outlets/big cinemas. people should be able to buy vouchers like 50 rupees for one movie, 100 rs for 3 movies. ofcourse rates can vary according to the scope/genre/budget of movie.
*immeditely release the DVDs of films after a release at cheaper prices but without any extra content and features. later they can release the DVD in conventional way with all the features and packaging at higher prices. by doing this they wont lose the revenue they get from their regular customers for whom buying expensive DVDs is no big deal but can also tap the market which cannot afford expensive DVDs and does not have the patience to wait for months for original dvds and do not care about the extras. similar strategy was used by moser baer for Jab we met where they had cheaper DVD with simple packing and without any extras for 40 bucks and the DVD with extras and good packaging for 150 bucks.
i believe rather than cribbing about piracy or defending it we should think pragmatically. i personally do not watch any Indian films on pirated copies even if that means me watching it very late(I dont care about loss of revenue for Hollywood movies) beacause i care about the Indian Film industry. i dont expect such a thing from an average person for whom caring about his/her food/child’s education/house rent are much bigger issues.
one more thing i forgot to add:
*variable rates for different movies. there are so many movies which people do not watch because of higer rates while they may spend that much foe some other movies. For eg. i might find a movie like Barah Anna/sankat city interesting to watch. but will i like to pay Rs. 175 for it. No! but i will happily pay even 250 bucks for 3 idiots/kites. smaller movies anyway have lesser occupancy mainly because people even if want to watch such movies are not ready to pay so much for it. so instead why not let them watch these movies at 60-100 bucks and compensate it with better occupancy. also they may have different rate slabs for the same show so for even if someone is ready to spend 200 bucks let them. the idea is to spread the reach.
PIRATED DVD’s- My Take
Soul Asylum
Manama, Bahrain- 06/11/06
Land Mark Suites- on the Exhibition road, Bahrain …Decent place..away for the Weekend Saudi revelers….was my head-quarters…Checked in early with my better half and two lil’ ones….Last minute addition…could n’t leave my younger one behind…Very painful…
First night was relaxing … getting used to the slow lethargic Bahraini life-style…Very soothing away from the traffic and the daily grind..
Woke up and knocked off my official commitments and had a lavish family dinner at Caesers…’ The perfect family- outing …and the kiddo;s were at their best behavior…
Evening stroll to the Downtown is mandatory and wifey preferred the comforts of the hotel room…Walked toward Baáb Al Bahrain ( Gateway of Bahrain)….a traditional natural port…strangely…with all the reclamation ….the Baáb is almost 500 metres off the coast…Blame it on ..Property sharks…Nevertheless, the place has retained its old world charm….All Cabbies lined up at the cheap Paki Dabba’s ..each of one having names like Karachi, Islamabad….even found Charminar in the vicinity….Amazing ..how..one wants to be associated with ones roots…away in a distant land !!!
Passed by a Temple near the Baáb…flurry of activities…devotees flocking either blessed or to be blessed…Radiating positivity…wish the calmness is retained forever…not just to the next block !!!
Popped into a Audio Cassette shop…flooded with pics of all our Bollywood stars…the guy at the counter –gave me a knowing smile..My grey cells got into a frenzied flash-back trip….synopsis..data….processed…LIYAKAT …I screamed…..
We go back..donkey’s years…he was living in my area ..back in good ol’ Bombay..Struggling for survival…could never complete his studies….and to make things worse had 3 siblings to support…I vividly remember his mom…..manfully going through the ordeal …His Dad was an illegal immigrant in Bahrain …12 years back…No connection with his family for 7 long years…People used to talk…Lady gracefully strode over all and sundry….Faith is the foundation….
Liyakat begged and borrowed and landed in Manama 5 years back…..tracked his father down….He was in doldrums…just released by the cops and with a good Samaritan backing him up…he was hawking audio tapes on the streets of Manama..catering to poor labourers….Liyakat joined him and all credits to the pirated DVD’s…they started aggressive marketing….on signals…and every nooks and corner of the city….Gradually…..they bought a small shop in Baáb area ….next to the temple….
Two of his brothers joined him…..and today this rags to riches story..shook me up…Not for the achievements….but what is being done after getting over the adversity….
Liyakat and his family support 500 homeless families back in Bombay…..food clothes….school fees….house for the needy…..It just humbled me….
They own two more outlets in the Baáb area and every day…around 40 poor guys are fed in Manama alone…Amazing…..
The Baáb Al Bahrain –is like a shield …..protects them…and ensures the foot fall….The temple …attracts…all devotees…..the shops get their customers……The sharks are dredging in further to reclaim more of the Sea…..It is the small fish which runs the Eco-system…..
……………All men are born equal…..but some are more equal in their deeds….even if it is wrong.
The hindi pirated DVDs are simple to get. But English ones are not. They travel by cars with a bag full of pirated DVDs. That guy informs me that ALL anti piracy activists are his clients.
I understand I’ve no reason to buy pirated dvds or rip from the net if it’s an Indian movie.
But what about foreign and hard to find movies? I buy HEAPS of world movies from Bangalore and Chennai for anything between Rs.50-100 a piece only! Moser Baer has introduced there world movies series but for a film aficionado there collection is very elementary. Will they ever release Irreversible or Salo in India? No! We in India have very limited resources to buy foreign films so even if you are against piracy you have no choice but to succumb to the pressure!
I’m currently ripping Drag me to Hell and Antichrist from the net coz I know they are never gonna release those in India and we have no surety about the DVD release.
I’m sorry….
Every person I have met propoganding Anti-Piracy is a hypocrite.
Dont pirate movies they say, watch it in theatres. But they would be downloading mp3s by the dozen.
Or watching unauthorised songs on youtube.
Or if they are not, they would be buying pirated playstation cds.
Or if not, buying pirated books off street children.
Or if not, buying unauthorised chinese duplicates of electronic items.
Our producers, directors and music directors themselves are stealing scripts, scenes, songs and lyrics left, right and center and expect people not to steal from them.
Given a chance, every one of us is a pirate.
Its all a circle, and in the end it always comes back to you.