Anwar Rasheed, producer of Premam, the super hit that is now caught in the throes of a piracy crisis, is visibly upset. He chucked his membership from different film associations in protest against their inaction and this made the authorities swing into action. Or at least that’s what everyone believed. But Anwar, in an exclusive interview, reveals that he is far from happy with the speed and progress of the investigation.
There were reports in a section of the media that the investigators were grilling Alphonse Puthren who directed the film and his crew to get possible leads on how the pirated copy got out but Anwar asks who is feeding such rumours to the media. “It is sad to see that the director who toiled to make this film for more than two years has to go through this even before he has got time to celebrate the success of the film.”
Anwar points out that this is a case that can be cracked without any inordinate delay if the investigators join the dots. “Though three youngsters were nabbed the other day for uploading the file, no real effort seems to be made to get those who gave it to them. Two of them were minors who don’t seem to be involved in any conspiracy but the 19-year-old youth who was on remand was a crucial link. If he is questioned, he should be able to reveal the gang that must have planned the operation.”
Anwar says that nothing can break the will of Alphonse and his young team. “They are an energy-packed group which is always ready to make good films. That group comprises of youngsters who are aged from 20 to 30 and I am sure these lads will be valuable assets to the film industry. So, we all will stand together to track down the real culprits,” he says, in an indirect answer to the charges in some quarters that there were differences between him and Alphonse and that the genesis of the leak can be traced to such a ‘conflict’. Anwar terms this theory as absurd and says they have had no differences with regard to the making of Premam.
“We welcome the officials to clarify whether we are innocent or not. But we want a speedy investigation and not for the whole episode to become a comedy,” he says.
