Nab reel pirates, get real awards

Piracy. A menace to which Hollywood has lost nearly $ 75 million and Bollywood has incurred losses of more than Rs 1,700 crore rules the roost.
Pinpointing piracy as the prime reason for the falling profits made by movies, the Hollywood-based Motion Pictures Association (MPA) and the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association (IMPPA) have launched a joint initiative in Delhi and Mumbai.From now on, a reward of Rs 30,000 will be offered by the MPA-IMPPA combine those volunteering information on factories churning out pirated versions of movies.
"This reward scheme has been launched simultaneously in eight countries including India and aims at controlling the problem of illegal recordable compact discs (CD-Rs) and recordable digital versatile disc (DVD-Rs)," says a senior representative of the MPA.
Ashish Bhatnagar, CEO of iDream Productions, wears a worried look on his face. Not without reason: "More than 50 per cent of the potential business of a film is lost to piracy. Although we have a hotline through which we monitor information, we need a more concrete forum to curb piracy."
According to director Yash Chopra, "This step initiated by the MPA-IMPPA ismost welcome. If this initiative succeeds in bringing in transparency, the film industry will benefit."
Adds an MPA official, "While the smaller pirates have been identified, we are on the lookout for the big fish." Still, with rewards being offered to nab pirates, there is hope.
Says director Robby Grewal, whose Samay is due for release, "The only way to rake in profits is to draw the audience to theatres. The reward scheme should take the sting out of piracy." Both Hollywood and Bollywood turning the tables, maybe pirates will walk the plank.