|
By Ali Peter John
Some leading film personalities sharing a common platform at a press conference organised by Mukta Arts and Shemaroo Video at The Oberoi on January 28, 2003, raised their voices in protest against the growing menace of piracy and urged the need to combat it.
Leading distributor Shyam Shroff admitted that the industry has remained quiet on the issue for far too long. But the time now had come, he acknowledged, to find ways and put pressure on the authorities to enforce the law more stringently. “Otherwise we’re doomed,” he asserted. “India is the only country in the world where a film’s official VCD and DVD is out on the same day as its theatrical release, even before the first show.”
Shroff confessed that he didn’t have any concrete solutions to the problem but filmmakers could get together to help the authorities fight the pirates. “And the sooner they do it the better it is for the industry,” he averred.
Subhash Ghai who was conducting the conference agreed with Shroff and asked the distributors and exhibitors to join hands in a ‘do-or-die’ battle.
Manmohan Shetty of Adlabs informed that there are more than 50,000 video parlours across the country and they are all doing roaring business. “Piracy is daylight robbery which has to be fought even though we have our backs to the wall. We have to fight technology with technology,” he pointed out. “There is a definite way of bringing people back to the theatres and that is by making good films which they will have to view on the big screen for optimum entertainment. Nothing else seems to be working nor will work.”
Director Mustan (of the Abbas-Mustan team) said he was shocked to see VCDs and DVDs of some of the latest Hindi films being sold like chocolates and chewing gum in places like Dubai. He urged producers, distributors and exhibitors to join hands and “ crush the curse before it turns into a monster”. Like Shetty, he insisted, that filmmakers should keep track of changing tastes and give people good films because only good films can avert problems of this kind.
Media expert Kunal Das Gupta asserted that there were positive and negative ways of fighting the crime. “I believe in the positive way and that is flooding the market with good films made only for the VCD and DVD circuit, satellite and home entertainment. A whole new industry will have to be formed to cater to this audience who will return to the theatres to watch bigger and better films. Incidentally, Mukta Arts’ next film made on a budget of Rs 1 crore is an experiment in this direction,” Ghai asserted.
An angry Amrish Puri maintained that piracy affected actors too because if the producer suffers losses then they faced the consequences too. “We don’t get out payments on time or don’t get paid at all sometimes. The government at both the central and state levels should initiate stringent legislation to stop piracy. We will have to put up a tough fight to survive. Making good films can break the backs of pirates, but, excuse me, we are not making good films these days,” he raged.
Akshaye Khanna who started off by saying he was very new to the business of entertainment, made a very valid point when he asked, “If a state like Tamil Nadu can succeed in bringing piracy to a near stop, why not the other states?” Akshaye insisted that the industry should recognise the potential of cinema, strengthen itself by fighting its battles and in particular the fight against piracy that “is out to ruin us”.
|
Login 
Register
FAQ
Search
