As an actor, piracy irritated him. But as a producer, it’s eating him up. And it’s that vengeful sense of retaliation that’s fuelled Vishal’s war on video piracy. After raiding bazaars and pirated DVD hubs in Pollachi, Karaikudi and other places where he has been shooting, Vishal pushed cinema trade bodies to announce a lifetime ban on theatres where prints were copied. Though the film industry has upped the verbal ante against video piracy, Vishal seems to be one of the few people who’s firing on all cylinders, as his movie Aambala hits screens this Pongal. A blow-by-blow account of the actor’s plans:
Piracy must be hurting you as a producer
It is. People don’t know just how much we’re losing, but I estimate that 40 per cent of a film’s revenue is lost due to piracy. If we let things be the way they are now, that number will rise to 60 per cent next year and soon producers won’t even be able to think of making movies.
Will this lifetime ban actually stop theatres from helping pirates?
Not right now. But I intend to find out which theatres are doing it and push for them to be banned. All prints are being digitally watermarked and we can find whether the copies were made in Kerala or Karnataka or Malaysia. At some point they will be afraid of being banned.
This technology has been available for a while now, hasn’t it?
Yes, but producers who have no trouble spending `2.5-3 lakh on success meets, are reluctant to spend `54,000 on sending that pirated DVD to a lab to find out which theatre it was copied in. I had collected the first pirated prints for Kaaviyathalaivan, Naaigal Jaakirathai and so many recent movies and even thought of spending my own money, but those producers wouldn’t have taken it well. People from across the industry come together for a Cauvery issue or for tax exemption, but barely anyone comes forward to support an anti-piracy movement. It’s sad.
And pirates themselves are unaffected?
At the moment, video pirates have probably already finished printing DVD covers and stickers for I and Aambala. I know for a fact that my movie will release on January 14 and by the next morning, the pirated DVD will be in my hands. They’re not just at the gates anymore, they’re squatting inside our homes, so to speak.
From Pandiyanaadu to Aambala now, piracy has been one of the sore points of your stint in production (Laughs) It has, but I’m happy that my movies have done well. All this anti-piracy stuff that I’m doing is not for political mileage or publicity. I’m doing it for this industry. There are some who understand that, I can’t do anything about the others.