Who can stop the leak?

CHENNAI: Last year, ahead of the release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, some rabid fans of Shah Rukh Khan captured his cameo in the film on their phones, and circulated it online. The intentions may have been noble, but it ruined the film for many people. This menace isn’t restricted just to Bollywood, of course. South Indian films are suffering too, even as more fans are taking to recording important scenes and sharing them on social media. At any time, clips from the most-recently released films (and sometimes, even those that haven’t been released) have been circulating on the internet, and they are shot in DVD quality. The use of mobile phones has created a new problem for the industry: piracy perpetrated by the commoner.

Veeram 2014

The makers of Junior NTR-starrer, Jai Lava Kusa, were in for a rude shock when they got news that the film’s teaser had been leaked online before its release. Other recent films like Baahubali: The Conclusion, Ram Charan Teja’s Dhruva, and Allu Arjun’s DJ have had to contend with leaked clips, and in some cases, live streaming from inside the theatre! Crucial twists, climax portions, and introduction scenes are usually the ones that get leaked illegally. Take, for instance, the case of Premam, the censored version of which was released online, barely days after its release. This caused a significant reduction in its collections. Recently, scenes from the Mammootty-starrer, The Great Father, were leaked on Facebook and WhatsApp. Social media, Malayalam cinema’s most prominent medium for film promotion, has started to raise its ugly ahead.

Telugu actor Siva Balaji is quite annoyed with this. “I think it’s just a small group that’s doing this. Perhaps they suffer from some mental disorder. They strike me as frustrated people who are in it for some sadistic fun. I don’t know if they realise how much money producers and distributors lose because people, who see these clips, feel there’s nothing else to go to the theatres for,” he fumes. He is convinced that strict action must be taken against such spoilsports. “I’m planning to file a writ petition seeking a uniform and stringent law to curb these acts,” he says.

Tamil cinema isn’t new to these issues either. Karthik, one of the administrators of RBSI — Rajini Biggest Superstar of India (a Facebook fan page that has almost half-a-million followers) — believes that such incidents have given genuine fans a bad name. “Years ago, there was a time when fan clubs meant responsibility. Apart from helping with publicity, they also were socially conscious groups. But these days, the word ‘fan’ has a negative image,”he says.

Raghunandan, who operates the Facebook fan page of a popular Telugu actor, says there have been instances of some well-meaning fans confronting those who are recording films in the theatres. “But the good fans often get abused. The situation needs the intervention of stars,” he says.

While piracy is a problem, there’s another: the slander of rival fan groups. When the makers of DJ recently announced the two-week collection figure of the film, it resulted in a fan war on social media, as fans of rival actors managed to get the hashtag, #DJFakeCollections, trending. Memes didn’t spare the actor, director and the producer. Such slander often gets personal too.

Actor Siva Balaji was at the receiving end, following the release of Pawan Kalyan’s Katamarayudu. “Very soon, after the release of a film, you have people making mocking videos by interspersing comedy scenes into the film’s footage. This is creating a lot of negativity, with rival fan groups trying to outdo each other with the release of each film of their respective hero,” he says. Arun Kumar (name changed), a social media analyst who handles Tamil films, says that only a few actors — Vikram, Vijay Sethupathi, and Madhavan — remain outside of the purview of such trolling. “Ajith, Vijay, Suriya and Sivakarthikeyan bear the brunt of all the damage,” he says.

It must be noted here that a few months back, actor-composer GV Prakash was at the receiving end of a lot of social media backlash, and when he blocked some of those attacking him, it became worse as some abusive hashtags began trending. “Vijay and Ajith fans usually target each other, but when a Suriya film releases, they usually gang up. A psychiatrist suggested that trolling is closely linked to traits like narcissism and sadism,” he says.

Surendar Reddy (name changed), an ardent admirer of Pawan Kalyan, thinks there’s nothing wrong in trolling and creating memes that damage other actors. “Sometimes, even celebrities share these memes.

We do it to counter what rival fans do. If they attack our hero, we can’t sit back and be quiet,” he says. “We record from inside the theatre to show other fans what the audience’s response was like. For many months, we love revisiting it.”

Sajid Yahya, director and creator, Cinema Pranthan, a film site dedicated to Malayalam films, has little respect for such fans. “I know of groups who go out of their way to hurt a film. Immediately after the first show, they post negative reviews, even if the film was good. It’s all usually done for a few shares and likes. I have raised this issue with the producers’ association,”he says.

Arun thinks that the best way to respond to a troll is not to ignore, or to respond with hatred. “Be graceful, and remember, the more hatred you feed, the worse things become. They are already on social media.”