Скачать или смотреть INDIA: BOMBAY: MEMBERS OF FILM INDUSTRY STAGE ANTI PIRACY PROTEST

(18 Aug 1998) English/Nat

Members of India's film industry took to the streets on Tuesday to protest the government's inaction against cable and video piracy.

Bollywood, the popular nickname for the Bombay movie industry, drew its curtains for a day as thousands of workers joined the protest against illegal screening of films on cable television.

The film actors and producers are demanding stringent anti-piracy laws and strict legal action against the illegal cable operators.

It was a day of no action, camera or sound for India's film capital of Bombay.

Thousands of film stars, producers, directors, artists and technicians gathered to protest against video and cable piracy which has drastically eroded their earnings.

And thousands of residents lined the streets to show their support for the industry and some of the country's biggest celebrities.

The Bombay movie industry, commonly known as Bollywood, has been waging a war against the cable networks for the past few years.

The protestors were demanding strict implementation of the Indian Copyright act to stop illegal screenings of new films by the cable operators.

They are trying to lure their fans back to the theatre, while demanding federal action against cable operators who kept audiences glued to pirated films on television and video.

It's a trend that is crippling the world's largest film industry by keeping the audience away from the cinema theatres.

This has led to dwindling returns at the box office and a near recession in the film industry.

The cinema theatres too remained closed for the day.

Many cinema halls have had to close down after losing money, as cable T-V competes for the viewers' attention - and cash.

Bollywood's glamorous film stars were up in arms.

SOUNDBITE (English):
"My films are shown on television the day they are released and the audience gets affected. Anyway we are going through a bad phase as far as action goes."
SUPER CAPTION: Sunil Shetty, film actor

Others were anxious their earnings would suffer.

SOUNDBITE (English ) :
"If not today, within less than a year, I am telling you, our daily bread is at stake here. I think people should wake up to that."
SUPER CAPTION: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, film maker

Thanks to the friendly neighbourhood cable operators, people can catch the latest blockbusters on their T-V screens, sometimes just a day after they have been released in the cinemas.

There are an estimated 40-thousand cable operators all over India.

Nearly two-thousand- 500 of them operate in Bombay.

They charge a monthly subscription of around three U-S dollars, and offer four movies a day on their cable channel.

A movie ticket in the theatre costs nearly the same.

Film piracy is a recognised legal offence but not a single cable operator has been arrested for showings films for which he does not possess rights.

The film industry accuses the cable operators of blatantly flouting the copyright act by screening the latest Hindi movies without legal sanction.

Most cable movie channels offer a feast of just-released Hindi films to attract audiences who can be easily hooked to the tube by the magic of Bollywood's dream factory.

Bombay produces about 200 films every year.

But a decline in profits is forcing a drop in the number of productions in this movie factory.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The loss is not only of the industry. The loss is also of the government. Because the government is losing by the way of entertainment tax. Plus of course if the film runs and does well, it benefits all the fields - because it is repumped into the industry."

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