A few years ago, director Sudheer Varma warranted attention when he conveyed his sincere thanks to ‘Bittorrents’ at the beginning credits of his debut film Swamy Ra Ra . And Bombay HC had recently pronounced that it’s inaccurate to consider ‘merely watching an illicit copy of a film’ a punishable offence. The ‘legality versus online piracy battle’ issue continues to haunt users despite a rising number of online portals permitting a user to watch films legally. Is torrent download still fine when there’s no accessibility or should a user exercise a certain amount of social responsibility in respecting an artist’s work? The world definitely was alarmed when torrents were down for a while only to comeback in a different avatar later.
Filmmaker Hussain Shah Kiran acknowledges that torrents aren’t as bad as they seem, given that they expose a viewer to cinema beyond one’s horizons. “Though as a person from the industry, I am against piracy, wider choice for a viewer is equally important. As long as the access to the copy remains private, it should work fine.” Online releases could provide an alternative, if only to reduce this trend, he suggests, adding that the movie portal should take charge of its security to ensure the movie is not pirated, unlike instances in the past (including Kundanapu Bomma, Sri Sri ).
The choice between torrents and watching on legally acceptable avenues is not only about ethics, it’s also about the kind of movie you want to watch, feels composer Syed Kamran. “Movies are ultimately made for their theatre experience. Viewers who download also want to watch movies like The Martian or Interstellar at the theatres, instead of torrents, even if they’re available,” he mentions.
Sometimes, what a viewer wants is also permanence of a copy, that’s when online-watching/downloading scores, irrespective of legalities.
Dancer Kiranmayee Madupu switched to Netflix when torrents were down for a brief, which she feels is a good bargain ensuring quality, accessibility at once with reasonable pricing. “From aspects like continuity to its user-friendly operation, I find the option, a very feasible one. We spend anything from Rs 100- Rs 150 to watch a movie in the theatre. So an amount close to Rs 500 or 600 per month, where multiple users from an account can access, is truly a good bargain.”
Given a choice between downloading a movie and watching a legal copy a few months later, she prefers the latter any given moment. Also, the craving for a a physical copy (a DVD/Bluray disc) seems to be fading these days.
What legally acceptable viewership options could do to entice viewers, is to bring in more recent regional content in addition to their collection of world cinema. The entrance of e-tailer biggies like Amazon is a welcome step in this direction.
