Pakistan is a hub of piracy for Bollywood films, says India’s CBFC chief

As Bollywood trembles under the threat of online theft of films this summer, the head of the Central Board For Film Certification (CBFC) has slammed accusations that the leaks sprung from his quarter.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News tabloid!, CBFC chairman Pahlaj Nihalani claimed that leaks can take place anywhere and that the onus is on the producers to protect their films.

Udta Punjab was leaked two days before its release.

In the last two months, drug drama Udta Punjab and sex comedy Great Grand Masti were leaked online before their official release, with the filmmakers blaming the CBFC for the leak. Actor Riteish Deshmukh, who stars in Great Grand Masti, accused The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, which deals with appeals filed by filmmakers unhappy with CBFC rulings, as the culprit.

Billions of rupees are at stake if the problem persists, producers say, with some films losing as much as 30 per cent of expected box office revenue on opening day.

“People were blaming CBFC... but it can be leaked from the studios or while sending the content overseas for clearance. It [the film copy] goes overseas four or five days before Indian release,” said Nihalani, speaking over the phone.

He even pointed fingers at India’s neighbour and long-time rival, Pakistan, for supporting the online piracy of Hindi films.

“Pakistan is completely a hub of piracy. It can go from there... The producer has to be careful about everything. [His film] should be like a baby. Once you are producing the picture, you have to take care of it like a baby and you should not leave any loophole until your picture is released,” said Nihalani, adding that copies of films are handled by several people before it reaches his table and they travel to different countries for clearance.

While the CBFC shirks blame, producers are scrambling to find a solution.

Producers of Dishoom have left no stone unturned to prevent a leak.

Sajid Nadiadwala, the co-producer of this week’s Bollywood release Dishoom, which was filmed extensively in Abu Dhabi, fears his film will be the next victim. He says he’s adopted a cautious approach and is praying that his pet project isn’t thrown under the bus this week.

“For the first time, no DVD of Dishoom has been sent to the Indian censor board and that’s one way to seal the leak. Instead of a DVD of our film, which can be copied easily, we have sent the film in an encrypted format, the DCP-KDM format. I thank Pahlaj Nihalani and the board for supporting us to keep the industry safe... The damage will be disastrous if Dishoom is leaked,” said Nadiadwala, speaking over the phone from Mumbai.

DCP or Digital Cinema Package, is designed to be the digital equivalent of a film print and KDM or Key Delivery Message, is a special electronic key that contains a code to unlock the encrypted film. In Hollywood, only a select few, such as the projectionist, are given the code. Such security measures make it tougher to duplicate films.

Nadiadwala is also planning to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue along the key players from big Bollywood studios. He is also in the process of obtaining a court order that can hold internet service providers, telecom operators and other platforms responsible for making illegal content from Dishoom available on their services.

“I have spoken to major studios such as Eros, UTV and Fox Studios and we want to meet with the Prime Minister to discuss this issues that’s threatening to kill our industry,” said Nadiadwala.

Surprisingly, Nihalani claims that these steps to provide piracy-proof DCP versions were always in place and that Bollywood filmmakers had a propensity to flout rules and submit DVDs, despite the CBFC asking for the DCP versions.

“The producers were not supplying us DCP versions until now. They have realised its importance only after they faced this piracy issue. All over India, they were following rules except Bollywood,” said Nihalani. South Indian filmmakers, especially the Malayalam film industry, is known to keep a tight lid on online leaks.

“But at least now, they are protecting their own content,” said Nihalani, adding that he was a producer himself and he feels their pain. But blaming the CBFC for the leaks isn’t right, he adds.

‘A national issue’

National Film Award-winning producer and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra describes the current scenario in the film industry as a “terrible law and order situation”.

“This issue should be dealt as a national issue... Watching a pirated copy is like stealing a car before it’s even launched in the market. The audiences are using stolen goods and they should be liable to be caught. There should be strict penalties [for] piracy. From those uploading it to those watching those stolen films, the penalty should be fierce,” said Mehra. The Rang De Basanti filmmaker, who is part of the Benegal Committee formed to suggest changes to India’s censor board, claims that his panel had put forward the recommendation of doing away with DVD submissions of films for clearance to CBFC.

“Billions of rupees are lost in revenue and taxation due to this menace. We need to formulate a policy quickly and need to form a panel filled with judges, cyber-crime experts, filmmakers and lawyers to get to the bottom of this,” said Mehra.

Other key players in the Hindi film industry such as Rahul Mittra, CEO of Wave Group’s films and producer of projects such as Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster and Revolver Rani, believe in strength in numbers.

“Just by Shah Rukh [Khan, Bollywood superstar] saying it’s a violation of our rights won’t cut it. It’s not enough. The producers, actors and directors need to rally together and maintain a united front. We need to find out the sources of leaks and deal with it together. We need to streamline the process of exhibition and projection,” said Mittra.

An advocate of capital punishment for movie-pirates, Mittra feels that his fraternity also needs to take responsibility for the mess that they are in.

“I know of many cases where producers are in a rush to send their final print overseas. I even know of certain cases where fake clearance certificates are attached to those prints sent overseas... From there it goes to Pakistan and from Pakistan it goes to torrents. There’s so much at stake here. This is the biggest threat to us and I would blame our film industry partly. In Hollywood, they follow the KDM strictly. Only their projectionist has the code and the movie is played at a pre-determined time. In Bollywood, many people have access to that code,” said Mittra.

Bollywood and its actors aren’t known as the most disciplined, and often revel in creative chaos spurred on by shooting delays, multiple script changes and change in release dates.

While the producers are warily gearing up to face the threat, they all hope that the government will help them.

Shailesh Singh, producer of last week’s Hindi release Madaari, feels this big threat needs to be tackled with stricter cyber-crime laws and the roots of the leaks need to be identified quickly.

“When Madaari was going to release, we saw an advertisement on a site saying that they will show the movie before its theatrical release. Fortunately, it was a hoax. But this threat makes us feel very vulnerable. We are now living in a climate of fear,” he said. “We should take this threat seriously... We have to come together because one movie takes at least two years of hard work and millions of rupees are at stake here.”

Quote/Unquote

“I am only doing my job. I am doing my job as per the rule book in my hand ... It [my resignation] is not anyone’s choice. That the government has to decide whether I am doing the right thing or not. It’s a government’s decision,” said Pahlaj Nihalani, when asked about several unhappy producers demanding his resignation two months ago. Nihalani came under fire for suggesting extreme cuts in the drug drama Udta Punjab and has been criticised for demanding lengthy cuts to films.