Swara Bhaskar
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 18, 2017)

A fortnight after a few bold scenes from Swara Bhaskar’s to-release film were leaked online, the makers have gone all out to safeguard their interests. Producer Sandiip Kapur has obtained an anti-piracy John Doe order from Madras High Court to ensure cinephiles watch the movie only in the theatres.

Explaining the effect of the order, Sandiip says, “It means an action against over 1800 torrent and other websites covering more than 95 per cent of the piracy spectrum. For an independent producer like me, every penny matters. For a Friday release, the pirated version is available online within a few hours. With this order, 1750 sites and 40 ISPs ( internet service providers) will be restrained from downloading the film.”

Emphasising that piracy is “a pressing concern”, he adds, “Even if the scenes are deleted from the movie, none should get exclusive footage of our film. Websites, which aren’t covered by our order, have also been taken into account. Taking a cue from Dangal and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, both of which leaked on Facebook and YouTube on the day of release, adequate measures will be taken to ensure that doesn’t happen to us, a team of software engineers has been deputed to ensure the sites are blocked immediately.”