Producer Mukesh Bhatt says that The Film & Television Producer’s Guild of India held an emergency meeting after they learnt of the chances of upcoming film Dishoom leaking online.
“We have received a shocking news that a pirate site torrent is advertising that Dishoom will soon be shown. If a pirate site advertises that there will be a leak, there could be nothing more frightening for a producer. So we held an emergency meeting since I am the president of the film producer’s guild, and we senior producers thought about what can be done about it.” said Bhatt.
“Each and every producer, wherever they were and whether they were busy, cancelled their appointments and came to my office,” added Bhatt.
Dishoom, starring Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez and John Abraham will release in the UAE on Thursday.
Recently, films Udta Punjab and Great Grand Masti leaked online before its official release. While the former still managed to do good business, the latter was a commercial flop.
Bhatt said, “It is such a dangerous news. They had started this trend during Great Grand Masti. That time we felt that someone was joking, we didn’t take it seriously. And then we came to know that it’s out and the producers got destroyed in a day.”
The makers of Great Grand Masti had previously stated that their DVD was tampered with at the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT).
And with Dishoom, a precedent has been set regarding the practice of submitting DVDs. “Central Board of Film Certification [CBFC] has helped us, first time in history, a film received a certificate without handing over a DVD. I want to applaud them for understanding our problem. They have proved it by saying, ‘If you feel that it could leak from here, for your protection and psychological comfort, perhaps you can give the DVD after release’,” Bhatt said.
Bhatt had famously stated that CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani should be removed from office during Udta Punjab’s battle with the censor board regarding cuts.
But he said, “I want to thank Pahlaj Nihalani sahab and the CBFC for understanding our pain.”
Bhatt also said that they have held discussions regarding approaching Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other agencies regarding the issue.
