‘Stop film release to fight piracy’

The Tamil Film Producer's Council (TFPC) is likely to halt the releases of latest Tamil films for about three months to put movie pirates out of business.

On Sunday, at the general body meeting of TFPC, most of its members decided that the only way to stop the problem of video piracy is to stop releases of films for at least three months.

"Piracy will automatically stop when there's no content. When we stop film releases, say for three months, the movie pirates will go out of business. We are looking into this option because film producers have suffered heavily in the last 24 months," Kalaipuli S Thanu, TFPC president said.

"Since all films are being released digitally, it's becoming easier for movie pirates to copy content. We need better digital projection measures. We will discuss with companies such as Qube and UFO to address this problem as well," he said.

The idea to ban release of films momentarily has come as a shocker to the industry.

"Each Friday, a minimum of three Tamil films are releasing in cinemas. If you stop release of films for three months, we are holding back about 36 films. Post the ban, these 36 films have to battle it out with more films for release, which looks impossible," a producer who is shocked at the idea said.

But, filmmaker Cheran, who last week released his new Tamil film "Jk Ennum Nanbanin Vaazhkai" via direct-to-home and DVD, said it's the "best option" available to stop piracy.