Piracy and cyber crimes have always been a burning issue. Film industry is the most hit by cyber crimes, as the recent cases show. The piracy issue gained momentum few weeks back with the leak of Premam. Also, over two weeks back, Jeethu Joseph’s Papanasham faced a similar situation when the film’s copy was leaked online two days after its release. The story doesn’t end here, some scenes of Bahubali were also leaked on the net. When most of us decided to watch the progress of the cases on the television from the comfort of our living room couches, a few students of the Government Law College, Ernakulam, decided to get to the forefront and spread awareness.
Shopping in the Centre Square Mall fell dead as the customers turned into viewers when the students staged a protest against piracy, in the backdrop of the movie Premam. The flash mob organised by the Government Law College students to protest against piracy turned into a big hit.
What started in a dramatic manner turned successful, as the students also enacted a few scenes from the movie Premam. The crowd cheered and applauded as the students put their feet together for ‘Aluva puzhayile theerath’ and ‘Malare’, the super hit songs from the movie. The mob that lasted for a few minutes ended with a message to the audience, ‘Kill piracy, and watch movie in theatres.’
“This was an attempt to create awareness to the government, to the film industry and to the ones who misuse the law. We have laws to protect cinema, but its implementation is not strict. Cinema is an art. We should respect it,” says Sethu Raj, one of the organisers of the event. “Piracy is a menace. It will destroy the future of authentic, creative works. Though we have an anti-piracy law, people are not aware of it. That’s one of the reasons, why they download pirated copies of films. As law students, we believe that it is our responsibility to make people aware of the dark side of piracy. We must understand the pain of a filmmaker and must watch movies in theatres,” he adds.
This was just not one odd attempt to create awareness against piracy- it was their first step in the Anti-Piracy Campaign that they have launched.
The students also point out that, it is the attitude of the people that should change. If it is the money and time one saves while watching the pirated copy of the movie, then the individual should understand the pain and effort of the filmmakers behind each movie. “By creating and watching a pirated copy, nobody realises the fact that one is committing a crime. Normally people think that one pirated copy of a movie won’t make a difference, and this attitude needs to be changed,” feel the students.
The students believe that only attractive and innovative attempts would capture the attention of the people, and that’s why they turned to flash mob as a means to create awareness. Quite happy with the success of their attempt, they want the film industry to join hands with them in the movement.
Sanjay Menon, Shelly Paul, Sarat Karta, Prami Augusty, Cimy Varghese, Nayana, Haritha Mohan, Kiran Antony, Shifna Mohammed, Rohit, Fazil, Niyatha, Amal S Kumar, Naufaz participated in the event.