Sorry saga of leaked tales

As Akshay Kumar’s Toilet... becomes the latest victim of online piracy, trade analysts and filmmakers weigh in how to avoid such accidents and the film’s losses thereafter.

Ahead of its big release next month, the Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar starrer, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha has been the latest victim of online piracy. The film, which was all set to hit the screens on August 11, was available online two weeks before its release.

A number of films like Sultan, Great Grand Masti and Udta Punjab have recently fallen prey to the menace of piracy. With a huge sum of money being invested in the making of these big-budget movies, a lot is at stake of the makers. And a leak even two days before the film’s release is capable of affecting box office collections tremendously, says trade analyst Komal Nahta. “If it is leaked a week before its release or even two days before its release, people want to see it. And this affects the box office records tremendously, and nothing can be done to recover the losses. It’s also because people experience a different thrill in watching a film before it is released and this is the reason why these leaks spread like wildfire. If a film is leaked on the day of release, nobody is bothered about it,” he adds.

Poster of film Great Grand Masti

Udta Punjab, yet another victim of piracy, was critically acclaimed, but didn’t really set cash registers ringing. The director of the film Abhishek Chaubey feels that people should stop treating piracy as a small issue. “As filmmakers, we can only make people aware and ensure that the law and enforcement measures are stringent when it comes to piracy. It is not an innocent crime, and we should stop treating it like one. While people don’t take piracy seriously, they need to understand that the same funds that are being earned here are used in other evil sources like drugs and arms. It is a serious offence,” he rues.

It takes a lot of efforts to get the film on the big-screen and incidents like these can weaken the morale of the makers. According to filmmaker Omung Kumar, piracy is the worst thing that can happen to a filmmaker. “It’s something that is not in the control of anyone. In our office as well, we are very strict when the film is circulated for VFX, CBFC, etc. Who leaks the movie, no one can say. But it makes an impact tremendously on the box office records, because we bank on the earnings of the film in the first three days of its release. And a film leaked online makes it accessible in people’s phones with just a touch of a button. Even scenes from my film Sarbjit were leaked. Once a film is leaked online, we can only pray that people don’t watch a leaked film at home and go to watch in the theatres,” says Omung, adding, “The whole industry faces this menace of piracy. Usually leaks happen when a pen drive or a CD goes to the wrong place. So precautions have to be taken.”  

While it is indeed horrifying for a filmmaker, star-studded films need not worry, argues trade analyst Kumar Mohan. “The risks with mega stars are not too much. With big stars like Akshay there are still chances of people going to the theatres to just watch him, so there are chances of losses in his case won’t be much.”  

On being asked if there’s any solution to curb the menace of piracy, Abhishek shrugs. “There’s nothing much that can be done about online leaks. It is difficult to find out who is the real culprit, what one can do it watermark every print to know the actual source,” he says.