Sarath Kumar returning after submitting a memorandum to the Anti-video piracy cell CHENNAI: By the time you watch Superstar Rajinikanth’s Lingaa in a theatre this December, don’t be surprised if ‘Thalaivar’ appears in a video against video piracy, just before the film rolls. The South Indian Artists Association (Nadigar Sangam) has decided to shoot a series of one-minute videos with top stars from the industry, in a bid to reduce the rampant piracy affecting showbiz. “We’ve decided that these videos will be screened before every movie almost like a statutory warning. All the stars in the industry will be approached to make these videos and we should begin work on it within a week. This may be the best way to tell people that downloading or buying a pirated film is piracy,” said R Sarath Kumar, actor and president of the Nadigar Sangam. The video will urge patrons to report instances of video piracy either to them or the police, with direct phone numbers. Members of several film bodies, led by Sarath Kumar’s Nadigar Sangam, handed over a memorandum to the Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Tamil Nadu Police, on Monday. “One of the major suggestions that we have made is to not only increase checking of VCD/DVD shops every 15 days and arrest them, but to make it public that these many people were arrested for such an offence,” he told City Express. Looking inward. Having battled piracy, almost in the face of mounting odds, members of the film industry are now looking at nipping it at the source, “Sometimes I get the feeling that the perpetrator is in our midst, despite the news we get that pirated prints are made in Holland and in Malaysia and sent here. We are looking closely at members within the industry because it cannot happen without their help,” he added. This shows a clear shift away from the tradition ‘lock ‘em up’ approach that they have employed with DVD shop owners — often the primary source of video piracy down South. “There has been a conscious watch on leaking movies and prints online via torrents. Sites like thiruttuvcd.com have been on our radar and we have targeted them, but every time we shut one site down, another one pops up. But at least we’re watching them,” said the actor whose film Jaggubhai was leaked online, a week prior to its release. “The police have agreed to monitor omni buses where new movies are played and also conduct flash checks on local cable channels— of which around 300 are playing new movies without licence, in TN alone,” he said.
