I am a social worker," laughs Sayed Osama, a South Mumbai-based salesman of pirated DVDs, about his profession. "If a boy wants to date a girl, he'll have to spend on tickets and food for two at a multiplex
"Iu00a0am a social worker," laughs Sayed Osama, a South Mumbai-based salesman of pirated DVDs, about his profession. "If a boy wants to date a girl, he'll have to spend on tickets and food for two at a multiplex, and that's expensive. He can't bargain with the guy at the counter. Instead, he can bargain with me, buy one DVD and everyone has a good time," is his simple answer to filmmaker Paromita Vohra, when she asks him if he believes he is involved in an illegal trade.
It's far from the mainstream view, and it finds place in Vohra's latest, Partners in Crime. The 90 minute-long film that will see a Mumbai premiere this week, explores issues of copyright through a running metaphor of loveu00a0-- love of the artiste for his work, love of the consumer for the arts, and love of money. "As an independent artist, I feel strongly about copyright," she says about her choice of subject. "The idea was born with printing and it was meant to protect the artist and create a fair legislation of the relationship between printers, artists and audiences.
But over time, from something to further the spread of art, copyright has become about serving the interests of coporate bodies, allowing them control over not only the art but what sort of art/media should be produced," she elaborates. The film uses interviews, graphical descriptions and timelines of important developments in copyright law, from the evolution of the printing press, to the marriage of HMV and Saregama.
"The copyleft approach is very important in terms of open source software, the promotion of new forms, or the propagation of something that would be locked up afterwards. For certain mass markets, copyright is an important way of ensuring that artists will be protected. And in many contexts, Creative Commons, which allows some quoting of the work when the use is non-commercial -- say, for a student film or a small documentary -- works."
Vohra's year-long filming took her from Rajasthan, where she met writer Vijaydan Detha (on whose story Duvidha, the film Paheli was based), to nautanki artists in Kanpur who, for years, have been performing Bhojpuri tunes that are picked up by Bollywood. And each meeting taught her something new. "How systematically the piracy market works was a revelation. The dozen versions of Munni Badnam Hui -- or rather Launda Badnam Hua -- that was a fun revelation. And the discovery of a number of people who don't do things only for money --whether it's Karthik who runs the plagarism site itwofs.com, Irfan who has an old Hindi film songs programme on FM, or Rahul Cherian who quit his corporate IPR law job to work on copyright to benefit the reading disabled," she shares.
Ultimately, though, it's the relationship between the artiste and the consumer that's paramount. Hence, the crucial metaphor of love. "It comes down to artistes trying to give the consumer the best of ourselves, and they in turn responding with love to the work. So, the film praises those who are trying to recreate this relationship of love, for without it, there will be no beauty in the world, nothing to echo our experience of life, and without that, the soul would starve to death."
Partners in Crime premieres on May 12 at 6.30 pm at the NCPA Little Theatre, National Centre For The Performing Arts, Nariman Point. Call: 66223737
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