Rs 22,400 crore scam uncovered: How Indian entertainment industry is being impacted by film piracy
Several big budget Indian movies - such as Raid 2, Good Bad Ugly, Chhaava, Sikandar, Game Changer - among others have reportedly been leaked online just a day before their theatrical release. As expected, these leaks have proved detrimental to the producers. Unfortunately, not just movies, but popular streaming shows - including Heeramandi, Panchayat, Kota Factory, Mirzapur, and Call Me Bae - are being accessed by the viewers through their pirated versions, which has left the huge OTT platforms disturbed. Released in October 2024, The Rob Report or The EY-IAMAI report, prepared by EY and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has stated that the Indian entertainment industry suffered annual losses of around Rs 22,400 crore due to piracy in 2023. Theatres too were impacted with losses of Rs 13,700 crore, and the streaming platforms faced losses of around Rs 8,700 crore.
The EY-IAMIA report has further highlighted that 51% of Indian consumers access pirated content through illegal streaming websites, mobile applications, social media, and torrents. India ranks highest in online video piracy with 90.3 million users accessing pirated content. After India, Indonesia and Philippines access pirated content with 47.50 million users and 31.1 million users, respectively. Former Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra shared how piracy is also linked to terrorism, "Terror networks don't survive on ideology alone. They survive on money. And pirated contents is one of their quietest sources."
Terror networks don't survive on ideology alone. They survive on money.
And pirated contents is one of their quietest sources. #Anti_terrorism_day #Say_No_To_Piracyhttps://t.co/Ta890gmLrV— Subhash Chandra (@subhashchandra) May 21, 2025
As there has been a sudden surge in the number of films being leaked a day ahead of their release, investigators and analysts feel that this could be an inside job at either of the post-production studios, content delivery services, or cinema exhibition companies. A senior Maharashtra police officer had told Economic Times, "There is a growing trend of movies, especially Hindi and Tamil films, being leaked on the day before the release. In such cases, the role of an insider is suspected." Girish Wankhede, a trade analyst, shared, "Piracy before the day of release of a film implies that it is an insider job...post-production studios, content delivery agencies and nefarious elements in exhibition companies."
Wakhede also explained that entertainment companies - to combat this huge piracy scam - are "experimenting with segmenting films into three encrypted parts that can only be unified via password authentication." The production houses are also employing the series of Block X, India's leading anti-piracy company that "safeguards film production houses, OTT platforms, broadcasters, e-publications, independent creators", to take down the pirated content across the internet as quickly as possible. The use of artificial intelligence and automated copyright bots is also being seen as a long-term solution.