Food World, Malleswaram. The movie /audio CDs are way too expensive here. The movie titles are very limited and often not the ones you seek. In case there is one you want, it is too expensive. The movies cost about 299 for English/Hindi and around 150 -199 for reasonably old ones. I do check for new ones, since it would give me an idea of the new releases, but rarely buy them from Food World.
I complete my shopping and come out. Right outside the Health and Glow shop next to it, there is a pirate DVD/CD seller who has established himself newly. Mind you, right in the premises of the same shopping location. So what? The DVDs here are cheaper, at 60 bucks, 80 bucks with the box cover for the DVD. DVDs come mostly in packages of 2 -3 combo movies. For ex., you get the original print of Phir Hera Pheri, Krish, Golmaal or any movie released two months earlier in theatres. If you want a movie released last Friday, then it is likely that you get the screen print. Students find it cheap to rent the pirated screen print DVD; instead of watching it in the theatres. A new screen-print release DVD at most rental stores cost 40 bucks whereas the cost of the DVD is 60 bucks. We find it cheap to opt for the older original print DVDs because you not only get the good print, but also a combo pack of 2 -3 movies in Hindi and upto 8 movies if English. That works out to be about 20 bucks per Hindi and 8 bucks per English movie. At that price, you must be wondering what are the economics of making it even for a pirated DVD? By setting up shop here, isn’t he sending the wrong signals to the community?
A blank DVD cost as less as 7Rs in bulk. Recording on it costs about a buck for overheads and labor. No margin required to give any producers. Packing costs an additional 2 bucks. (A printer is enough) Add another 10 for distribution and their profit. Even with a 30 % margin, it still comes to around 30 - 40 bucks while the final retail price you buy is at 60. The difference between a pirated and an original?
a. A pirated may have either a screen print or original print. An original is costlier due to the hefty royalties.
b. A pirated does not have any ads. So no irritating Hello Airtel ads when watching a movie. All the more reason why some specifically prefer pirated.
No wonder most prefer to buy a pirated DVD. With so many advantages, going for it, why should we not buy them?
Here’s why. A recent announcement in the newspapers made waves. Piracy funding terrorism. How? They find it more lucrative to make and sell pirated CDs. They do have a good network in the business. They earlier funded their growth by extortion, selling drugs and other practices which were huge, but not much damaging due to the limited reach. With software piracy, the market is too big to imagine! Almost every home is affected by some way. Students are the biggest culprits since they find it cheap and better value.
A movie release in Dubai is often two days earlier than the Indian release. The movie is captured with a camcorder and then transferred and uploaded to a website. Their partners posing as businessmen in different countries are intimated and the movie is transferred and pirated swiftly. The same with English movies. English movie piracy was started by the Irish terrorists a long way back. Some of the terrorists at Dubai got smart enough and copied the same practice to Hindi movies.
At this rate, terrorism can only increase. There can be no end to terrorism as long as their sources are not targeted. With a very weak legal force and a lack of political will, there can be no end to the terrorist menace. They would always target newer sources unless the producers get their act and do something. Here are a few things they can do.
a. Make the original movies as cheap as the pirated. They may not be able to offer the combo, but they can still make the original movies as cheap as the regional movies. A two year old regional movie can be purchased for as cheap as 30 bucks (CDs). If they sold Hindi movies even at 50 bucks, imagine the sell value and the market! (CDs are already available at that price) In the end, the profits would only increase if the movie is sold for a wider audience.
b. Each time the police capture a huge haul of pirated CDs/DVDs instead of destroying it (Only half of it gets destroyed, the other half misused), they should organize special police sales at select places. Because it offers a rich source of funding for the police. It also means better resources to counter terrorism. If it can fund so much terrorism, it can definitely fund the needs of the police force too. Why? Because it would make students buy from the police or from any sale organized by them instead of funding terrorists. At the same price value. This in turn gives a subversive effect on the sales of the terrorists. If the police got into the same game simply by seizing terrorist hauls and selling it at a police outlet, it would weaken the resolve and funding for terrorists.
I am not talking about the general software piracy, only movie piracy. Because this happens to be the biggest source for their income. General software piracy requires a different plane of approach since only techies or learners would want it.
Next time you purchase a pirated; give it a thought, would you? You are funding those terrorists to kill yourself, perhaps?