MUMBAI: A shipment of over 1700 pirated copies of Raavan was recently intercepted by the New Zealand Customs, thus preventing an Auckland-based Indian video hire business from hijacking the release of the film.

A lawyer from law firm James and Wells, acting on behalf of protecting the intellectual property of film distributor Claire Tompkins, said that her client received an anonymous tip-off about the shipment arriving on the film‘s opening weekend. She immediately filed a Copyright Customs Notice that allowed customs frontline officers to be on the lookout and detain any pirated copies coming into the country. This resulted in the shipment being found and seized.

The unnamed importer has chosen to forfeit the goods rather than face consequences by the official distributor.

Raavan, which had its worldwide premiere on 18 June, grossed $60,000 on its opening weekend in New Zealand, the third highest for a Bollywood film.