COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Bollywood seeks help to combat video threat, government obliges

Maharashtra government today assured the Bombay film industry (popularly called Bollywood) that laws would be amended on lines of Tamil Nadu and ordinance issued if neccessary to curb rampant cable piracy while seven special squads of the police force will launch a crackdown against pirates from tomorrow.

The announcement to this effect was made during separate meetings of a film industry delegation comprising film stars, film-makers, distributors and exhibitors with Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde and Cultural Affairs Minister Pramod Navalkar in Bombay.

The delegation included Censor Board chairperson Asha Parekh and the crème de la crème of Bollywood. Joshi urged the members of the delegation to submit a copy of the ordinance brought out by the Tamil Nadu government so that Maharashtra's ordinance could be modelled on that lines and the state Cabinet could discuss the issue at the earliest.

Munde told the members that a bill to this effect would be brought in the winter session of the state legislature.

Joshi assured the delegation that if the members of the film industry bring to the notice of the government those concerned police stations who refuse to take down their complaints.

City police commissioner Ronnie Mendonca urged the film delegation to co-operate with police to keep a vigil on pirates. He told them that the music industry had also formed special vigilant cells to co-ordinate with the police to track down pirates all over the country.

The delegation also demanded that the licences of video parlours be cancelled like the Tamil Nadu government has done. The delegation also submitted a memorandum of their demands to the chief minister and deputy chief minister.

UNI