<p>Bengaluru: A Russian piracy website has dubbed the Kannada film <em>Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali</em> into Russian. The film is also streaming on their website. Director Chandrajith Belliappa posted on X. The film was released in theatres in September last year. </p><p>Responding to this, Chandrajith said it took him by surprise how they had managed to dub it, without a source file. “I skimmed through the content and saw that it was on point and was falling on the cues,” says Chandrajith who thinks it’s probably done using AI. “From the way it sounded — a little squeaky at times — this happens when voices are generated through AI,” he added.</p>.<p>“In a way it’s a good takeaway for us as well because, in terms of revenue it’s more of a pay per view model for Kannada films on <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/ott">OTT</a> these days. The hassles in the dubbing process discourages us from doing it. When we see things like this, it piques our curiosity and also encourages us to explore these avenues,” he shared.</p><p>The film’s team will not be taking any legal action against the Russian website. “Piracy has affected our film once it came on OTT and even when it was in the theatres. Kannada content has always been pirated on an everyday basis. We’ve sort of given up on it now,” he said. </p><p>Ironically, Chandrajith says with a giggle that he is hopeful about people watching his film across borders. This is not the first time a filmmaker has had mixed opinions about the piracy of their films. Anurag Kashyap had once said, “I’m thankful to piracy for saving my career.” Kashyap had also talked about pirated DVDs of world cinema inspiring a whole generation of young filmmakers in India. </p><p>Even the critically-acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog believes that piracy has been the most successful form of distribution worldwide. Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr once posed for a photo with a pirate DVD store owner along with his films in Peru. </p><p>However, this comes from an artiste's point of view. When looking at it from an industry’s and producer’s perspective, it can be debatable.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: A Russian piracy website has dubbed the Kannada film <em>Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali</em> into Russian. The film is also streaming on their website. Director Chandrajith Belliappa posted on X. The film was released in theatres in September last year. </p><p>Responding to this, Chandrajith said it took him by surprise how they had managed to dub it, without a source file. “I skimmed through the content and saw that it was on point and was falling on the cues,” says Chandrajith who thinks it’s probably done using AI. “From the way it sounded — a little squeaky at times — this happens when voices are generated through AI,” he added.</p>.<p>“In a way it’s a good takeaway for us as well because, in terms of revenue it’s more of a pay per view model for Kannada films on <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/ott">OTT</a> these days. The hassles in the dubbing process discourages us from doing it. When we see things like this, it piques our curiosity and also encourages us to explore these avenues,” he shared.</p><p>The film’s team will not be taking any legal action against the Russian website. “Piracy has affected our film once it came on OTT and even when it was in the theatres. Kannada content has always been pirated on an everyday basis. We’ve sort of given up on it now,” he said. </p><p>Ironically, Chandrajith says with a giggle that he is hopeful about people watching his film across borders. This is not the first time a filmmaker has had mixed opinions about the piracy of their films. Anurag Kashyap had once said, “I’m thankful to piracy for saving my career.” Kashyap had also talked about pirated DVDs of world cinema inspiring a whole generation of young filmmakers in India. </p><p>Even the critically-acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog believes that piracy has been the most successful form of distribution worldwide. Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr once posed for a photo with a pirate DVD store owner along with his films in Peru. </p><p>However, this comes from an artiste's point of view. When looking at it from an industry’s and producer’s perspective, it can be debatable.</p>
