MUMBAI: Joint police commissioner Rakesh Maria is leaving no stone unturned to unearth the root cause of piracy. Going a step further, the commissioner gave a stern hearing to a film producers‘ delegation that had called upon him to get the latest on the What‘s Your Rashee? piracy racket.
Talking to Indiantelevision.com, Maria said, "In my meeting with the film people, I told them in clear terms that some big players from the industry were definitely involved in piracy and have asked them to try and trace them."
During the interaction with the fraternity, the commissioner broadly laid out the modus operandi which the pirates have been following and asked the industry people to block leakages from laboratories and studios.
Said Association of Motion Picture Producers and Television Programme (AMPTPP) senior vice president Vikas Mohan, "The meeting with the commissioner was vey fruitful. This has opened our eyes to the dangers that lie amongst us.
"We have taken the matter very seriously and have convened a meeting of producers, distributors and lab owners on 29 September when we will discuss the matter and arrive at a new game plan. The momentum against piracy would not die down till we are able to eradicate piracy."
Association of Motion Picture Producers and Television Programme (AMPTPP) president Ratan Jain is of the view that entities like Adlabs and UFO Moviez cannot get away from this murky situation just by saying that their employees acted in their individual capacities. "Will I not have to take responsibility for a folly made by an employee of mine!," he asked. Jain cautions that laboratories and studios have to tighten their belts and be answerable.
On the other hand, Adlabs, UFO Moviez, Big Cinemas and Shemaroo, whose employees have been apprehended in the piracy case, have started tightening up and are taking no chances of further embarrassment.
While officials at Adlabs are working out on ways to arrive at a solution to the matter by next week, people at UFO Moviez have also tightened their security and screening process.
Said UFO Moviez CEO Rajesh Mishra, "We have almost finalised our line of action in this matter and once we are done it, we will come out with a ‘white paper‘ that will be enough to show how concerned we are."
"To my knowledge the pirates have made Adlabs, Shemaroo and UFO Moviez a scapegoat while their operations were being carried on another level," Mishra added.
Said Shemaroo Entertainment vice president, Hiren Gada, "On our part, we have already tightened our security measures. We will not allow our name to be tarnished just like that."
