WHAT IS the turnout time for original master copy of a Bollywood blockbuster released first in the overseas markets (London and New York) smuggled into Lucknow? It’s just 24 hours.
The original master copies of a Bollywood blockbuster just released abroad arrive via Nepal in the city and get copied further onto innumerable CDs for illegal distribution at small factories in the bylanes of Naka Hindola—the hub of all the video piracy activities in the State”, says general secretary of UP Cinema Exhibitors’ Federation Sharad Khandelwal.
He said the raids carried out on the “factories” churning out pirated CD’s of Bollywood blockbusters at Naka Hindola have earlier been fruitless exercises. “It is suspected that the some local policemen tip off the manufacturers of pirated video CDs well in advance whenever such raids had been planned by the district administration at Naka Hindola to nab the culprits”, Khandelwal says.
“It seems the only way to nab the manufacturers of the pirated video CDs is to assign the work to the Special Task Force (STF) as the role of local policemen is suspect,” he adds.
“Pirated CDs of Bollywood blockbusters are sold openly in the Naka Hindola locality. One can walk into a shop in the locality and demand a pirated version of any Video CD of the latest Bollywood release. The trade in pirated Video CDs is costing the cinema exhibitors Rs 500 crore in losses every year.The state government is losing an estimated Rs 100 crore in entertainment tax as a result of the illegal trade in pirated CDs”, Khandelwal says.
{{/usCountry}}“Pirated CDs of Bollywood blockbusters are sold openly in the Naka Hindola locality. One can walk into a shop in the locality and demand a pirated version of any Video CD of the latest Bollywood release. The trade in pirated Video CDs is costing the cinema exhibitors Rs 500 crore in losses every year.The state government is losing an estimated Rs 100 crore in entertainment tax as a result of the illegal trade in pirated CDs”, Khandelwal says.
{{/usCountry}}“We are not against sale of legitimate CDs of bollywood movies. It is the sale of pirated video CDs which bothers the exhibitors”, he points out.
“The UP Cinema Exhibitors’ Federation through its senior member Kuldeep Kapoor from Agra tried several times to apprise Yash Chopra of the menace of printed Bollywood blockbusters. But, his (Chopra’s) staff always informed that Yashji is busy in a meeting,” he alleges.
Earlier, the federation tried to convey its problems through movie moghul Amitabh Bachchan who also happens to be chief of the Entertainment Committee of the Uttar Pradesh Development Council (UPDC).
Our concerns were conveyed by Bachchan during the last UPDC meeting to the senior government officials but all in vain as frequent transfers of principal secretaries in the Home Department never let the pleas of cinema exhibitors get transformed into action, Khandelwal adds.
—S.Chowdhury