Imphal, September 8, 2014: Three days after Mary Kom, the biopic on the boxing champion, was released nationwide, the film in DVD format surfaced in Manipur markets and has been in great demand.
Manipur missed being a part of the nationwide release on September 5 because of a militant ban on the screening of Hindi films in Mary Kom’s home state.
As citizens of Manipur could not watch the movie on silver screen, the DVD format was in great demand. However, the disc of the film is not available in stalls, as the official DVD has not been released yet. It is reportedly being sold on the sly, fearing crackdown by law enforcers.
The latest Hindi films on DVD and CD are available in the state. Manipur’s cinema halls have not been screening Hindi movies for 14 years since the militant ban.
Mary Kom’s family is “upset” over turning up of the film in DVD format when its screening in cinema halls was not possible.
“One should not sell the Mary Kom film illegally when there is a ban on Hindi movies (in the state). It (sale of the film in DVD) is a shame,” Mary Kom’s husband Onler Kom told The Telegraph.
Onler said he got a copy of the film from Imphal market yesterday and the sale of the film’s pirated DVD made him furious.
Mary Kom, who is in New Delhi, was also upset over the development back home. “Those who banned Hindi films should also stop this black marketeering of the film. Some unscrupulous elements are exploiting the situation. This is unfair,” Onler said.
Sources said the film in DVD is available in Churachandpur district, Mary Kom’s original home, and also in Imphal city. This correspondent managed to get a DVD of the film at Rs 30 from one of the stalls in Imphal city.
Sources said only a few stalls sold the film because of the “sensitivity” of the matter.
When this correspondent scanned the stalls today, all of them denied keeping copies of the film and could get one copy from a stall through a friend, who is an acquaintance of the stall owner. “The stall owner did not disclose the source of the DVD. He does not sell it openly. Only people known to him could get a copy,” the friend told this correspondent.
Copies of the DVD went viral and those who watched the film said the quality was good. Sources said the film could even be downloaded from the Internet.
When contacted, a senior police officer said police had not received any information about the sale of the film’s pirated copies. He, however, said the matter would be looked into.
Source: The Telegraph
Post a Comment