Pirate DVDS in Delhi (topic not endorsed by this website)

keithpc

Hi

Does anyone know of a store in Delhi in which I can stock up on pirate DVDS before I leave in a few days time? Also, if such places exist is it advisable to carry them through customs or would it be a better idea to post them home?
Thanks
Keith


Edit note: topic not endorsed by this website ... rab

mercedes10

Hey! don't buy pirate copies! I'm sure the originals are cheap in India too. I know lots of people who work in the film industry and if you're buying pirate copies then they're not getting paid! It's not fair.

shere

Who cares about the Bollywood film industry ? The film industry does not care about the general public. Bollywood DVDs are low quality garbage. The picture quality is usually poor (the source prints used for DVDs have dust artefacts galore), the sound is crap and the media the film is on so poor the ORIGINAL DVD stops playing after a few times. You write/email to Eros or Video Sound to complain and they ignore you. They continue to give the public crap, so what does the public do, they resort to buying pirate copies which are usually on better media than the originals and last a lot longer.

If the film industry wants our money they need to ensure that the likes of EROS stop producing crap DVDs.

shere

Just put them in your luggage to be checked in. It is not exactly illegal to buy or own pirate discs. Its own illegal to manufacture, distribute and sell them so unless you carry multiple copies of a particular film it is hard to charge you with being a distributor

I would never bother taking pirated discs into India as the custom wale can be a pain but I have no problem with taking such discs out of the country.

phantom

But, I think they are too much overpaid, anyways

mercedes10

I wasn't actually talking about Bollywood. Keithpc didn't say what type of films he was looking for - so not necessarily Bollywood ones.

Phantom - it may seem like they're all overpaid but you'd be surprised! Apart from the obvious huge Hollywood blockbusters the film industry generally struggles to get the finance to get films made. Yes, the big-name actors get paid plenty, but that doesn't necessarily leave so much for the writers and crew. A lot of them have profit-share written into their contracts but basically they never see any profit. Obviously people buying pirate DVDs add to this problem. If you're a genuine film fan then you wont buy pirate copies.

shere

Mercedes.

I have never bought pirate hollywood DVDs. The quality of hollywood DVDs is usually spot on so I will spend money on originals. Sometimes I will wait a while and pick the film up a bit cheaper.

For Bollywood flicks I now usually buy pirates as I have so many originals that will not play. The DVD media used is so poor. Dil Chahta Hai is a prime example of this. I have 2 original copies and both play up (I have tried different players and have the same result so it is not a player specific problem). A pirate copy I have works fine.

Anchka

I went to Palika Bazaar on Connaught Place, you can get both originals and pirates there, which ever you finally choose to buy.

zzzehar

It is kind of a bit strict vigil these days on any porn films being sold. However getting Normal Pirate DVDs shouldn't be a problem. You can get them as cheap as Rs 40 - Rs 50 for a set of 4-5 movies in one DVD, and believe me they are of very good quality. I am not sure of Bollywoord films but Hollywood offers awesome quality as they are just the exact copy of the original CD all clubbed in one, thus offering very good value for money. And please DO NOT even take a chance of taking them with urself via customs...If they catch you you could be spending rest of your life in regret. Its much better (Best)and safer (safest) option to post them home via some Good courier company like DHL, Blue Dart etc...

crvlvr

shere, i find it hard to believe that the pirated copies play better than the genuine ones. I agree Eros does not do a great job in the mastering and then inundates the viewer witha whole bunch of ads before the movie begins. But, my experience with pirated copies have been worse -- especially those that are "camera prints" .

however, "originals" being sold by unscrupulous retailers are actually pirated copies. Indian stores are notorious for passing off pirated copies as the genuine article.

zzzehar

Like I said, the pirated one's are not manufactured by EROS or SHEMAROO or any other DVD mfg company. Instead they are copied from the original DVD and then burned onto a blank one in homes using DVD Writers and then sold off to shopkeepers in Palika Bazaar and other places. and their print is as good as the original one.

Merchant

Can you even buy non-pirated DVDs in India?

zzzehar

hahahahahahaha, yes you can pay a fortune and but a one non pirated movie in one DVD, I prefer 5 movies in one DVD for half the price !! BUY PIRATED.

shere

Its true. A pirate on decent quality media will outlast most original bollywood DVDs (have a read of media problems at www.zulm.net). Many of the newer bollywood pirates I have are on pressed single layer media (proper commercial DVD copies not burnt on a home pc) (these were bought in Canada)and the quality is excellent. I have originals of Dil Chahta Hai from Amazon so I doubt they were pirates. Cam prints can be truly awful.

shere

I was in India in March/April this year and a relative had a few pirated 3 or 4 in one hollywood dvd discs. The picture quality was truly awful with compression artefacts galore. In comparison the super duper bollywood pirates had very good picture quality. I dread to think what the picture quality would be like for a bollywood 3 in 1 DVD considering most bollywood flicks are close to 3 hours and can occupy over 7 gig on an original DVD. Compressing 21 gig of originals on to a DVD9 (8.4 gig) must kill the picture quality.