July 6, 2025

The Telugu film industry is facing a severe threat from movie piracy. With around 100 active piracy websites, the latest Telugu releases are easily accessible in HD and DVD-quality formats for illegal streaming and downloading. Despite efforts to curb this trend, even big-budget and hit films are falling prey. The anti-video piracy cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) has revealed that approximately 50% of the 150 Telugu films released annually end up being pirated. The illegal copies often originate from cellphone recordings in theaters in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, uploaded within hours of the movie's release. The piracy quality for multi-lingual releases, especially those dubbed in Hindi, is even better, with high-definition pirated copies originating from northern states like Bihar. These copies are recorded using cameras mounted on tripods inside theaters, where video and audio are synced during editing before being uploaded. Additionally, pirated prints often come from overseas screenings, particularly in regions with a large Telugu-speaking diaspora. This trend makes containing the initial leak extremely challenging. The TFCC's anti-piracy cell has been proactive in addressing this issue, having filed numerous complaints with the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerates over the past 18 months, resulting in several FIRs. Y Mahindra Babu, the project head of the TFCC anti-video piracy cell, mentioned that immediate action is taken upon producers' alerts about pirated copies circulating online. He recounted an instance where the police arrested an individual for uploading a pirated version of Pushpa 2 on YouTube. The TFCC also regularly petitions the I&B ministry to block such websites whenever they are identified. Despite these efforts, cybercrime officials admit that most piracy websites are hosted on international servers, posing challenges to enforcement. Even if one site is blocked, mirror sites emerge within hours, slightly altering the URL but retaining the same pirated content.

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Tags: Piracy, Telugu film industry, Illegal streaming,