Indian film producers hold press conference amid piracy scandal

[Len]

Tamil Film Producer Senior hero T. Rajendra, father of Shimbu lashed out at Vishal at a press meet held along with seniors like Radha Ravi and Bharati Raja. During Meeting they stated that President Vishal should step-down from Tamil Film Producers Council as he failed to fulfill his promises. They also said Vishal is not eradicating piracy from Tamil film industry but he is actually supporting it by joining hands with a production which spearheads piracy market.

Many producers referenced the exposé which made several startling allegations against the actor who won the TFPC elections in April 2017. The primary accusation is that Vishal, who promised to root out piracy in the film industry, had struck a deal with Lyca Productions after learning that the company was behind the domain names of several websites that released pirated films. The article points out that Vishal got an exhaustive report from a private investigating agency and approached Lyca Productions for a deal, which then has bankrolled his films since.

Speaking at the press conference, producer K Rajan slammed, “How can you head the producer’s council when you don’t produce any films?

“The Kerala police have nabbed the admins of TamilRockers. That said, we are trying to cut the mother source because all prints that have been uploaded online have been taken from theatres. That’s why we’ve been asking for a joint meeting with theatre owners. There should be thorough vigilance for at least four days after a film’s release inside the theater. Only then can we completely root out piracy,” the daily adds Vishal as saying.

Following the allegations, around 40 producers held a press conference demanding Vishal’s resignation. But they did not stress much on the piracy issue rather about the functioning of the producers’ guild. Interestingly, many refused to believe Lyca Productions’ involvement in the piracy.