''WITHIN TWO HOURS OF THE NOTE ABOUT PIRACY IN SOCIAL MEDIA, PEOPLE STARTED TRANSFERRING FUNDS''

Joker produced by Dream Warrior Pictures is being appreciated by people. Yesterday (16th August), the team had released a unique poster against piracy, requesting people who watched the film online to pay for it properly so that the same can be utilized for construction of toilets for the needy, which in fact is the core of the film. 

We contacted producer SR Prabhu to find out about this and this is what he had to say:

How was the response to the note?
Within two hours of the note in social media, people started transferring funds; someone had given 100 Rs, some 150 Rs and so on within their means. I am happy that people are taking the film to their hearts. It is a new experience. Money has started coming in and right now it is enough to build one toilet. Because of the film’s honesty, it is working. That’s all.

Whose idea was it?
We had this idea, we pitched it to the director and wanted to approach in a funnier way. We requested Raju Murugan to give the write-up. He wrote this in Mannar Mannan’s perspective.

Piracy?
When it comes to piracy, I somehow feel, it is our mistake. We don’t keep the content ready for the audience in the way they want it and at the time they want it. People don’t ask for a pirated version of a film in the shops. They only ask for the film. I will give an example. If you keep a pirated DVD and an original one for the same cost, nobody would opt for the pirated version. Everybody is honest and they have their own pride and self-respect.Nobody wants to eat other’s money. It is the mistake of the industry that we didn’t have the financial capability to hold back our rights and extract in the right channel. It is very unfortunate.

Now when we are fighting for the DVD market, that technology is almost over. I have not played a single movie in my DVD player for the past 2 years. The digital revolution is happening. I send a request, “if you have watched the film digitally, send the money” and within half an hour, people start sending money. The fact is we are not keeping pace with the technological advancements. 

For e.g., if somebody is eating from garbage, it is not that he likes to eat from there. It is because he has no access to decent food. You can’t tell him, don’t eat unless you give him the food first.  IMHO, we are not understanding the issue properly. Of course, I can’t have this strategy for every film of mine. People connected with this film honestly and the subject is such.

The fact is that we have to make the online market available to the audience parallelly.The legal market has to grow equal in size with the pirated market. Then only, it can fight.

What are your plans for the funds generated from this?
We don’t know yet. Our aim is to build toilets to the needy. Depending on the funds we generate, we would either give to PM’s Swachch Bharath or donate to the people in the place where we shot where there were no toilets. There are some  complexities and we don’t want to take immediate decisions. When we approach things in advance, people may doubt us. We want the fund to reach the right people for the right cause.

Response of the film
The film is going at a steady pace and is growing silently. Theatre count and theatre size are growing. It is changing from single screen to many screens.

We wanted to make a quality film and see how it worked. We never expected this kind of a feedback, we only expected 30% of this. Even normal people are writing so much about the film and it appears that we have spoken the people’s mind. It is a proud moment, a satisfying moment for us beyond monetary aspects.

Jyothsna Bhavanishankar

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