“Stop Piracy At Post-Production,” Warns Censor Chief Pahlaj Nihalani

The arrest of a  technician at  Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad  for stealing and pirating footage from Baahubali 2 throws open the looming threat of piracy.

The chairperson of the censor board Pahlaj Nihalani says, “I’ve been repeatedly saying the threat to our film industry is not from Hollywood films or recession. Now they are blaming  demonetization for the low turn-out in theatres when in fact the culprit has always been piracy.”

Nihalani recommends stronger checks and curbs at the post-production outlets. “There  are dozens of  computers in every post-production outlet, each manned by an individual. How much effort would it take for one  of them to download footage from a film on his phone or his pen-drive, or whatever.”

Nihalani warns, “Piracy happens at the post-production outlets, not in the  censorboardoffice.Sometime ago the CBFC office was seen as the  place where piracy occurred.Producers need to pinpoint the real culprits to curb piracy.”