Film industry struggling with piracy

Just when the producers and the cinema hall owners were hoping for a boost in business with Shakib Khan’s starter film ‘Dorod’, there comes the news of the film being pirated. In the last few years, there has been news of piracy in case of several other big-budget films as well.

Film director Raihan Rafi considers film piracy in this industry is to slay the slain. Rafi’s films ‘Shurongo’ and ‘Toofan’ had also been pirated and the production house of the films had also taken legal action regarding this at that time.

The film ‘Dorod’ rereleased in theatres of United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada and New Zealand on Friday while it has been two weeks of the film being released in the United States. Meanwhile, the film will be running in India from 29 November.

Amid this, the makers and the producers of the film are considering the news of piracy as a negative sign. Director Anonno Mamun said that he was able to remove all the pirated copies of the film ‘Dorod’ that had been leaked on internet. The pirated copy of the film has been removed from 22,033 IDs till Friday afternoon.  

The number of film release has been cut down to half compared to a decade ago. The number of cinema halls has reduced as well. About 50 or fewer films are released a year now while a handful of them are in hype. Producers, directors and hall owners also become hopeful of the commercial success of these big-budget films featuring mega stars.

Much talked about film ‘Toofan’ that released five months ago, had also become a victim of piracy. The film was pirated for the second time on the third day of being released on OTT platforms ‘Hoichoi’ and ‘Chorki’. Earlier, several other films like ‘Rajkumar’, ‘Shurongo’, ‘Hawa’ and ‘Hubba’ were pirated as well. Usually the films that are in the centre of audience interest are the ones that get pirated.

Director Raihan Rafi is saddened to hear the news of ‘Dorod’ being pirated. He told Prothom Alo over the phone on Friday, “The condition of our film industry is not that good anyway. If the films that are doing well and are about to become a commercial hit get pirated it amounts to a huge loss.”  

Bringing up the reference of his films ‘Toofan’ and ‘Shurongo’ Rafi added, “While releasing these two films there was a claim that the films have been pirated in India. But, the film ‘Dorod’ has not been released in India yet, then where was it pirated from needs to be investigated. The cinema hall owners should find out how the films are recorded on cellphones and cameras to spread them on YouTube or Facebook.”

“Otherwise, the condition of our film industry will deteriorate further. If the producers don’t profit financially from making films, they would not make films anymore. Piracy had pushed our film industry to the edge of ruin. Just when everything was getting better and the film industry was growing piracy has struck us like this! This has to be stopped as soon as possible,” he stated.

Since piracy happens from the cinema halls, the authorities concerned should be careful, believes Rafi. Stating that they even have to the blame for it he said, “The cinema hall authorities have to be aware round the clock to monitor if anyone’s making video recordings with their phone. Plus, when the audience enters the halls, they have to be checked if anyone’s carrying cameras with them secretly.”

Mentioning that a big-budget film featuring country’s biggest star has been released on a non-festive occasion after a long time, Rafi said, “If films released on occasions except for Eid get pirated like this, the audience loses interest. Many of them will go for watching the pirated copy.”

“It’s my request to you that if you are a cinema lover do not watch pirated copies. Watching those is both wrong and a punishable crime. Nobody should share the links either. Those who will share the links would also come under the legal jurisdiction,” he warned.

Director and producer of ‘Dorod’, Anonno Mamun said that the film has been pirated from the United States as all the leaked versions of the film had English subtitles included.

He said, “Films being pirated like this is not just painful to me only but also painful to the whole industry. This happened when we released the film worldwide on a non-festive occasion. May be no one else would have the courage to go for a global release in future.”

“The issue is no matter if it happens inside or outside of the country, it’s the responsibility of us all to protect the films from piracy. Because, films being pirated like this would stop our growth. The film industry is our upcoming growing market and piracy is a major obstacle there,” he added.

Bioscope Films is the house responsible for distributing ‘Dorod’ in the United States. Chief executive officer of the house Raj Hameed, told Prothom Alo Friday that he has also heard the news that the film ‘Dorod’ has been pirated from New York. He also said that he would take action in this regard after speaking to the cinema hall owners.

“Who have done it needs to be found out. When their identities are revealed, others will be warned as well. We have distributed 48 films in the US so far. We have never faced a problem like this before. We have asked the production house for more details. We have created a market for Bangla films abroad after putting in efforts for seven years. And, we will protect it at any cost,” said Raj Hameed.

Director Anonno Mamun believes that a powerful ring is in play behind the piracy. For example he said, “From seeing the quality of the pirated copy of our film it did not seem like the work of any common public rather a powerful gang seems to be involved.”

“They are aware that any film of Shakib Khan creates widespread hype about it. They want to destroy the industry for just a petty sum of money. I don’t know if the technology required to identify these people is available in our country or not. But, steps should be taken against all of them.”

Owner of Modhumita cinema hall, Iftekhar Uddin Noushad also believes that films are pirated from the cinema halls indeed and there’s a huge ring behind this. He has also urged the cinema hall authorities to be even more cautious.

He said, “No one is allowed to enter our cinema hall with any sort of bag. When films are distributed abroad the authorities of those cinema halls also need to be warned about piracy. Piracy causes a huge damage to films. If there’s piracy, there will be no audience in out cinema halls either. If exemplary punishment can be given once, this will stop.”