This Navratri, do the new. Say NO to piracy.

Navratri has knocked the doors and we’re sure you’re all set to have the best of celebrations. There’s light and laughter everywhere. With this joy comes a lot of newness while you pray for prosperity and harmony. It’s about an inception of freshness; & we thought of talking about something you need to start afresh about.

You’ve read a lot of serious and technical articles about film piracy by now, which apparently seem boring; and who doesn’t know, we human-beings never spare even a single chance to throw free advises. Well we don’t at all intend to bore the hell out of you with all the old anti-piracy agendas you’ve heard and read a hundred times before. But since we’re into Page 3 journalism and very closely associated with Bollywood, it does bother us sometime. Let’s just look at the issue with a different perspective; a little more sensitive and responsible one.

Bollywood yet suffers from an unequal distribution of resource and revenue. On one hand we have blockbuster films which earn over a few hundred crores easily and on the other hand there are films made of comparatively less budget but serious hard work and brainstorming. Most of the times, films from the second category are at the receiving end of piracy. Result? A promising filmmaker loses his aspiration at the very beginning. “No money” causes death of a very promising, talented soul who could have had meaningful contributions to Indian cinema.

To digest all this, you first have to accept that there are films which solely depend on viewership in order to earn revenue. Dazzling star-cast, extravagant and lavish foreign locations aren’t their USP and often beyond their affordability. They won’t be able to spend a few crores on promotions and sponsors won’t be too eager to spend on them. If you go and watch, their tickets are sold and they earn. If you don’t, they run on loss and give up on filmmaking. You opt for the easiest option i.e. to “download” and watch it, and you’re being an escapist who will enrich himself a good piece of art but won’t contribute anything towards its growth. For once, think about all the sleepless nights a director has spent on merging, organizing, brushing up his thoughts; writing, tearing the pages apart and writing again. How much does it take a producer to carry the guts to invest on a film which might never run? Just a hundred rupees won’t be too much for you, we assume. We do spend a lot more than this, for a lot less important reasons.

Did you know that India is among the top 10 nations in the world when it comes to movie piracy? Not something to be proud of. So what next? Uninstall the torrent software? No, we are not being a moral police here. We do know, that the internet helps us accessing us films which we’d never watch otherwise. There are films in other languages and countries that might never release here. Depriving yourself from those original artistic creations isn’t a good idea. But when it’s a film you can easily access at the theatre nearest to you, please take the pain of visiting the theate and checking it out. That way you’ll be helping in the making of an artist; who knows, may be a legendary one?

After all the serious blabbering, we at Bollywood Bubble wish you a navratri full of happiness and prosperity. May fresh thoughts prevail.

This Navratri, do the new. Say ‘No’ to piracy.

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.