NEW DELHI: In this age of streaming services and OTT platforms, high-speed internet, and screens pasted to our eyes; we simply can’t see enough! As world cinema reached our palmtops, an industry has parallelly emerged to satiate our visual cravings – whether legally, or illegally.
Enter piracy. While online piracy of films and TV series witnessed a steep rise since the Covid pandemic, ploys pre-dating the advent of Torrent still prevail in the market. Even today, film-hungry hoards throng niche corners of the city to get their daily fix of the cinema; siphoning recently-released movies and TV shows on pen-drives, memory sticks or phones.
For a closer look into this ‘shady’ industry, we reached Bhagirath Palace in Chandni Chowk. A recce of the convoluted alleyways took us nowhere; so, to gather local intel, we happened upon a tea-shack.
The man at the stall smirked at our predicament; “Looking for films? Couldn’t find the store, right? Yes, yes,” the man says, as he stretches over the counter to inconspicuously point his index finger at a little shop down the alley. “Mobile repairing,” announced the hording. “Memory card, pen drives available.” “Downloading, data transfer.” The services provided were mentioned in bold font on the store front. “We get all the new movies and web series here, whether Bollywood or Hollywood. The prints of some movies are not that good, but it can be watched on mobile,” says a young customer.
Here, even recently-released web series ‘Heeramandi’ was available in full HD quality. Upon inquiring the price, the ‘film-dealer’ says, “I will give you all the eight episodes of ‘Heeramandi’ for just Rs 20. We transfer up to 4 GB memory for Rs 50.”
At another similar counter, a shopkeeper says, “We have movies and web series from all OTT platforms; Amazon, Netflix, Hotstar, you name it. We sell movies which are brand new, at only Rs 10 per movie.”
Moving deeper into the illicit dealings of video content, we reached a store which boasted exclusive pornographic content. On asking the seller what was up for grabs, “We have only one kind of film, blue film,” was the reply, a sly smile creeping over the shopkeeper’s face. And the price? The shopkeeper says, “I will load 8 GB of blue film on your device for Rs 40.”
We also spoke to some of the customers lining up to ‘download’ the films on their devices. “I am eagerly waiting for the release of Pushpa 2,” says one. “Once it’s out, I’ll get a copy of the film from here.”
When informed that certain OTT platforms have slashed their subscription rates to as low as Rs 29 a month to attract viewers, customers were clearly uniterested. “We will just insert a pen drive in our phones or download it from the internet; who needs a subscription?” was the unanimous opinion.
Some shared their go-to online services for streaming of pirated films and video content. Platforms like ‘Pikashow’, ‘Steamio’ were mentioned by customers where movies, released only days ago, are available for viewing.
Pirated video content
India comes third in terms consumption of pirated video content, an industry that suffers a loss of about Rs 20,000 crore every year. The Cinematograph Amendment Act 2023 has been passed in the Parliament to protect the privacy of films and avoid losses to the industry.