Rs 250 crore loss to Telugu cinema, Courtesy:Video Piracy

Video piracy is no longer a shady business, done by amateurs who crouched in dingy corners of a theatre with hand-held cameras.

Operating under the wings of infamous underworld groups, video piracy has a bold new face now. And Tollywood is one of the worst hit targets. Producers are worried because the piracy mafia no longer feels the need to operate anonymously. They don’t even hesitate to make calls and threaten to hold the latest releases to ransom if their demands are not met.Shyam Prasad Reddy, producer of recent Tollywood blockbuster Arundhati points out,

“Earlier we heard of producers who called up pirates operating from Chennai, Benguluru, Malaysia, US and Canada, requesting them to stop pirating their films for a price. But now pirates audaciously call the producers and blackmail them. The pirates’ strategy is to promise the producers that copies of their new releases will be held back for the first 15-20 days, provided a price is paid.”Assuming the nature of organised trade, the pirates now even give out their bank account numbers so that money can be credited to them.

Sravanthi Ravi Kishore, senior producer, says, “Even if there are desperate producers who are willing to pay up, there’s no guarantee that the film won’t be out in grey markets. Those who cough up moolah are just buying time.”

Though 600 cases have been booked against video pirates in the state not a single accused has been convicted. piracy cases are of least priority for city cops, producers complain. “We have done our best to get witnesses against these video pirates. The attitude of the cops is discouraging,” says Keshav Reddy, co-ordinator, anti piracy cell.

Fed up with the lethargy of the authorities, some producers are taking matters in their own hands. producer D.Suresh Babu says, “The pirated CDs of Chintakayala Ravi were available in the grey markets of Chennai days after its official release. I guess we have no other option but to release the DVD of the movie on the day the movie releases. This may save us from bigger losses in the long run.”

Thammareddy Bharadwaja, president, Telugu Film producer’s council says a separate unit within the AP police department alone can check piracy in the state. He also says the producers should keep a watch on their own crew.“Currently, every successful Telugu film loses at least Rs 5 crore on an average due to unchecked video piracy,” he says.