'Piracy killed our film'

'We are really distressed. All of us are broken, shattered.'

'Two years of hard work and crores of rupees have gone down the drain because of piracy.'

The Great Grand Masti team speaks out.

The Great Grand Masti team -- actor Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Vivek Oberoi and Urvashi Rautela, director Indra Kumar and producer Ekta Kapoor -- held a press conference in Mumbai over the weekend to address the issue of piracy after their film got leaked 17 days before its scheduled release. Due to the leak, the release date was brought forward from July 22 to 15.

"We are really distressed. All of us are broken, shattered," said director Indra Kumar. "Two years of hard work and crores of rupees have gone down the drain because of piracy. For the first time, a film got leaked 17 days before its official release. It has killed our film.

"Our last franchise (Grand Masti) did Rs 100 crore. We were expecting Rs 150 crore with this. It wasn't supposed to open so low. Piracy has hit us right on the head and the heart. We have suffered heavy mental and financial loss. The government definitely needs to do something about piracy."

The Great Grand Masti team also revealed that the copy they had submitted to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) was tampered with.

The director said, "When the Cyber Cell officials went there (FCAT), they found that someone had opened the seal and put it in an album-like a folder and sealed it."

Hitesh Jain, the legal aid of Balaji Motion Pictures, said, “The copy that has been leaked online is the same copy that was submitted to the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). This is an unprecedented leakage. After cyber cell investigation, it was found out that the sealed copy was sent to FCAT, and then the seal was tampered and mixed with other films."

Further, Vivek pointed out, "You have to submit a sealed copy. They don’t have the right to receive a copy without a seal; no one has the right to open that seal. From the condition in which the copies were found, it seemed someone had opened it and put it along with the other films and sealed it with them. That’s what we have been told as revealed from the investigation."

"From the information we have, we are sure that (the leaked copies of) Udta Punjab and Great Grand Masti were FCAT copies," Riteish added.

Interestingly, both films have been produced by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures.

So when asked if she was being targeted, Ekta said, "If the leak was planned as a target, then it’s most unfortunate but I don’t look at it that way. There are conspiracy theories that have come into play, that we have been informed of, but I don’t want to say it to the press yet. The investigation is on and we are hopeful perpetrators will be booked in both the cases. We are taking measures for our upcoming films."

Urvashi Rautela broke down at the press conference while addressing the issue.

"I am a 22 year old young girl, who's trying to find a footing in the industry. When Udta Punjab was leaked online, I felt bad for the team. But never did I think that the same will happen to my film as well," she said.

"There were people messaging me on social media saying they liked my performance because they had watched the film before it released in theatres. I didn't know whether to smile or cry," she added.

Meanwhile, Shiney Ahuja has sent a legal notice to Balaji Motion Pictures and Great Grand Masti director Indra Kumar as a character in the film -- depicted as a maid -- is named Shiney.

When asked about the notice, Hitesh Jain felt the piracy issue was more important and needed to be addressed first.