Tag: Bollywood

When Just Going to the Movies is Dangerous: Indian Diaspora Targeted in Canada

Image: Shutterstock

Immigrants who take up a new life in what is often a culturally very different country from their original homeland naturally seek out the familiar by associating with those from “home” as part of the adaptation process. This is certainly true of the Indian diaspora, in Canada as elsewhere. Part of that comforting feeling of “home” comes from sharing cultural experiences, such as food, music, and movies. As is widely known, India has the world’s largest film industry in terms of output, so it is natural that Indian films will be an important part of cultural bonding for South Asian diaspora communities. But what is an Indian film? The Indian film industry is far from monolithic. There is Bollywood, to be sure, for Hindi language films, but also Tollywood, a term variously used to describe Telugu language films originating in Andhra Pradesh but also Bengali films from Kolkata, and not to be forgotten, a South Indian film industry based in Kerala in southwest India, using the Malayalam language, as well as Tamil language films. And others.

In other words, there are lots of Indian diasporas, many of which have a long tradition of producing their own filmed entertainment. Most of these groups are well represented in Canada. According the 2021 census, the South Asian population of Canada (those identifying as South Asian) was just over 1.8 million, or roughly 5% of the population. The term South Asian includes Muslims from Pakistan and Tamils from Sri Lanka, so if we are talking solely about Canadians originally from India, the total falls to 1.4 million. In terms of geography, the largest group is from the Punjab, the majority of them Sikhs, although there are significant populations of immigrants from Gujerat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Hindus make up 2.3 % of Canada’s population; Sikhs 2.1%. (It is interesting to note that Sikhs make up about the same percent of India’s population as they do in Canada). One characteristic of Sikhs in Canada is their degree of political activity. In the current Parliament there are no less than 18 Sikh MPs out of a total of 338, spread across three different parties. By contrast, India’s Lok Sabha, with 543 members, has just 13 Sikh Members. But I digress.

Let’s get back to Indian films, particularly South Indian films, in Canada. You might think that going to the movies to watch a flick from home would be a relaxing and pleasant pastime. If that’s what you think, you would be wrong. In fact, going to a Telugu, Tamil or Malayalam film in Canada can be very stressful, if not downright dangerous. For more than a decade there has been a history of violence against cinema operators screening such films. Screens have been slashed, stink bombs set off and worse. The most recent violence involved drive by shootings at four Toronto area cinemas, resulting in the cancellation of showings of the Malayalam language epic “Malaikottai Vaaliban” in Cineplex venues across the country. What’s going on? Is someone trying to stop the South Indian diaspora from enjoying their movies? Well, not exactly. They are trying to stop them from enjoying their movies in certain locations.

What is happening appears to be commercially motivated, with a turf war taking place over the distribution of these films, with distributors accusing a collection of independent theatres of violence and sabotage. (No arrests have been made or charges laid). Screening ethnic films can be a lucrative business with tickets reportedly going for as much as $30 a head. However, large mainstream multiscreen exhibitors like Cineplex routinely charge about half that amount and as the company has moved into showing Indian language films, it has been targeted. To date, the disruptors have succeeded, as on several occasions Cineplex has cancelled scheduled showings, including screening Malaikottai Vaaliban in BC, even though the most recent violence took place in Toronto. In the past there have also been violent incidents regarding the screening of South Indian films in Edmonton and Calgary.

It is natural for a national chain like Cineplex to want to move into the diaspora market, given the size of Canada’s immigrant population. As of the last census, almost 25% of the population was born outside Canada. The COVID pandemic, which for a time brought movie attendance to a standstill (Cineplex shuttered its theatres for several months in 2020), wreaked havoc on the theatre exhibition industry. Things are recovering, however, with revenues up substantially in 2023 although attendance has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. But NATO (the National Association of Theatre Owners, i.e. the other NATO) is concerned about predictions of a drop in revenues in 2024 owing to a shortage of films after last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike. This is yet another reason for chains like Cineplex to move into screening of diaspora films, where strong attendance for limited showings can be anticipated.

In Canada, Cineplex, the nation’s largest cinema chain and the fourth largest in North America, struggled as much as others during COVID. One result was the collapse of its acquisition by Cineworld, the UK based exhibitor (which operates Regal Cinemas in the US) that had made a bid for Cineplex in 2019, just prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. With the onset of the pandemic, Cineworld backed out of the deal, and was promptly sued by Cineplex. The result was a $1.24 billion judgement in favour of Cineplex. Subsequently, however, Cineworld declared bankruptcy in the US. No collection on that debt.

Meanwhile, what should Canada’s Indian diaspora do when even going to the movies becomes a fraught and potentially dangerous outing? They should be demanding action on the part of the police! In my estimation, Canadian police forces have typically been slow to come to grips with what one might call “blue on blue” violence, where one element of a diaspora community will harass or intimidate other elements within the same community. In part, it is a result of certain institutions being behind the times and not reflecting the current ethnic make-up of the population; it takes time to win the trust of and to be able to penetrate some ethnic communities. But even allowing for these excuses, it is unacceptable that random (or maybe not so random) violence should be permitted when it comes to something as basic as going out with your family to watch a show. I guarantee it would not be tolerated in the non-diaspora community. Can you imagine the owners of the local indie theatre sending out gunmen to shoot up the local Cineplex because the theatre chain had the temerity to show “Live at the Met” on a Saturday morning? That is the equivalent of what’s been happening, and it’s been going on for far too long.

Even though to date no one has been injured or killed, if this violence continues something really bad is inevitably going to happen. Cancelling showings is not the answer; this only encourages the perpetrators. Toronto-area police forces need to make investigating and stopping this illegal activity a priority. It is like the “broken-windows theory”. If you can’t take your family in safety to the movies, what’s next for the unravelling of law and order?

I don’t think I will ever go to a Telugu or Malayalam language movie, but I respect the rights of those who do. I hope that the next diaspora blockbuster to come to Canada gets a proper screening across the country in popular venues that provide inexpensive, comfortable and safe viewing. Our immigrant communities deserve no less.

© Hugh Stephens, 2024. All Rights Reserved.

India Government Adopts New Tool to Tackle Film Piracy and Modernizes Content Classification

The morning view of Taj Mahal monument reflecting in water of the pool, Agra, India on 04 October, 2014. (Under licence from Envato Elements Pty)

On August 4, 2023, India’s Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023, received Presidential assent and became the law of the land. Enactment marked the culmination of a decades-long process to update the country’s anti-piracy laws by cracking down on camcording in theatres and imposing significant penalties for distribution of illegally recorded films. This legislation marks a real breakthrough in upgrading the governance of India’s theatrical industry in terms of anti-piracy measures and modernization of the certification system. In addition to imposing deterrent punishments for piracy, the legislation has brought the film rating system into alignment with internationally recognized best practices and standards, removed the federal government’s power to review a film’s certification after the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has certified a film and replaced the ten-year validity of censorship certificates with perpetual validation.   

The new legislation was hailed by both India’s film industry as well as the government. The Producers Guild of India welcomed the increased penalties for piracy, which stipulate a jail term of up to three years and a fine that can total as much as up to five per cent of a film’s production cost. This is a significant financial penalty that begins to reflect more accurately the impact of lost revenues for producers. The sanctions are not just for illegal camcording, but also for distribution of an infringing copy to the public for profit, both offline in physical premises and online. Through the imposition of significant financial penalties, the new legislation punishes not just the perpetrator of the camcording, who may be a low-level operative hired to take the risk of making the infringing copy, but also goes after the distributors behind the piracy. In other words, it “follows the money”. It is estimated by the Indian government that piracy costs the Indian film industry up to US$2.4 billion annually. The Indian courts and authorities have since 2018 done an excellent job of promoting online content protection via site blocking orders related to “rogue” piracy websites, and the new, focused provisions will give rightsholders and law enforcement an additional strong tool to tackle film piracy at the source.

The government of India, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and indeed senior officials within the Ministry all deserve credit for pushing the initiative through. This significantly more robust stance against piracy, which has been the scourge of the industry for years, reflects the greater emphasis placed by the Indian Government on establishing and reinforcing India’s role as a source of innovation and creativity. As Information and Broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur stated so aptly, “India is known as a country of story tellers which shows our rich culture, heritage, legacy and diversity”. That storytelling tradition as expressed through film was under threat. Not only does the industry contribute to the country’s cultural richness and diversity, but it also provides employment for hundreds of thousands of workers, from film stars to caterers, designers, hairdressers, directors, choreographers, film technicians, musicians; indeed the full panoply of talents and occupations that make up the film industry. And that is not to mention the contribution of the film industry to the country’s GDP. A study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association in 2019 concluded that the film and television industry directly and indirectly generated employment of 26.6 lakhs (2.6 million) and contributed over INR 415,000 crore (US$50 billion at current exchange rates) in economic output. 

While the anti-camcording and anti-piracy elements of the legislation constitute a major breakthrough, the other elements of the legislation are also important. Updating the age-related categories for “U/A” films, by creating new categories of classification in the U/A category that fills the gap between Unrestricted and Adult, has modernized the film rating system, allowing parents to determine with much greater accuracy what sorts of films their children can watch. The new categories of U/A 7+, U/A 13+, and U/A16+ will allow for content differentiation, expand viewing options for young people and allow parents to make the call as to what films are suitable for various ages. The previous “all or nothing” approach was not serving the needs of the viewing public and led to uncertainty as to the suitability of general U/A films for particular age categories. The regulation’s adoption of revised television ratings is another improvement on a previously informal process.

One of the more politically delicate elements in the legislation was the decision to delete any provisions that would empower the federal government to overrule the censorship authority (Central Board of Film Certification, CBFC) by revoking a film’s certification. Such reserve authority not only undermines the effective working of the CBFC but opens the film censorship and rating process to political interference. Given the judgment in the Union of India v Shankarappa case, doing away with the revocation of the certificate clause is a wonderful change. It provides greater autonomy to the CBFC and builds predictability and certainty for a film’s producer.

Last but not least, an additional welcome feature is replacing the previous ten-year validity of a film certificate with one that is valid perpetually. If a film clears censorship and is released, why would its certificate need to be reviewed in ten years’ time? If there is no good reason to do, the renewal simply becomes a bureaucratic exercise that unnecessarily burdens film producers.

To manage the vicissitudes of the parliamentary process, where bills can fall hostage to unrelated political issues and die on the order paper, the government introduced it first into the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, thereby ensuring it would not be expunged each time a parliamentary session ended. This was an astute move. It passed the Rajya Sabha on July 27, 2023, and the Lok Sabha, by voice vote, on July 31, 2023. That is an amazing feat after more than 40 years of delay since the legislation was last amended in 1982.

The film industry is truly one of India’s cultural gems, along with its great art, literature and religions. Indian films are a dynamic cultural and economic force domestically and globally. Now the investment that goes into producing them will be better protected and there will be much greater certainty regarding the sanctity of cleared and rated content. The industry will continue to grow and flourish through the creativity and artistry of Indian talent. But the Government of India has played an important role helping to secure this future. Shabash!

© Hugh Stephens 2023.