Marathi film leaked online, producer lodges complaint

MUMBAI: Hardly a week after the release of Marathi film ‘Dagadi Chawl’ on October 10, most parts of the film have been uploaded illegally on YouTube. Producer of the film, Suresh Sawant, has lodged an FIR with the Bandra-Kurla Complex cyber police for cheating, fraud and copyright.
Sawant said that he learnt about the film being leaked online via alerts on a group on a messaging app.
Sawant, who has worked as an assistant art director for movies like ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ and ‘Nastik’, said that he got messages from people in Uttar Pradesh, alerting him about the movie being uploaded. “I was shocked to learn about the piracy. The over two-hour film has been uploaded in six parts, excluding the climax,” Sawant told TOI.
The film is based on Dagadi Chawl that houses the fortified residence of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, popularly known as Daddy. The producer said he was worried about the leak affecting the film’s earnings at the box office. “Piracy is a curse for producers who pick up money from the market as when the film is ready, people steal it and sell for a meagre Rs 10,000 or even lesser,” he said.
A team headed by joint commissioner of police (crime) Atul Kulkarni is probing the case. Additional commissioner of police (crime) KMM Prasanna and BKC senior inspector Sudhir Mahadik are part of the team which is trying to track down the person who uploaded the movie and the server used to do so. A case has been registered under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC, Section 66 (fraud) of the IT Act and under the Copyright Act 63 (offence of infringement of copyright).
The police have blocked the streaming of the film on the website. “It is suspected that the uploaded clips are unedited versions. The movie may have got leaked when it was sent for processing to a lab before release,” said a police officer.