Kerala Police arrest Tamil Rockers admin for pirating Dhanush's 'Raayan'
Jeb Stephen Raj, a 33-year-old member of the notorious piracy group Tamil Rockers, was apprehended by Kerala's Cyber Police on Monday. The Madurai native was caught filming and uploading pirated clips from Dhanush's recent movie Raayan onto social media platforms. The group has been plaguing the South Indian film industry for over a decade since its inception around 2011. Following Raayan's release, pirated clips of the film began circulating online, leading to an investigation by the cyber police.
Arrest led to discovery of piracy operations in Kerala
The investigation revealed that the piracy was occurring in Kerala, not Tamil Nadu as initially suspected. Acting on this information, Raj was arrested at a prominent theater in Thiruvananthapuram while recording Raayan. Raj was then taken to Kochi for further questioning where it was discovered he had also pirated other South Indian films such as Maharaja and Kalki 2898 AD.
Tamil Rockers's innovative piracy method and payment scheme
The high quality of pirated films distributed by Tamil Rockers is due to their unique method of recording movies in theaters using phones placed in cup holders. Raj reportedly received ₹5,000 from the Tamil Rockers website for each film he uploaded. He had been supplementing his income through piracy while working at a hotel in Kerala's capital city for the past year and a half. Despite numerous attempts by film producers to TR, the group has consistently managed to resurface.
'Raayan' achieves box office success despite piracy
The film Raayan, directed by Dhanush, was released on July 27 and has received widespread acclaim. It has performed well in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, earning ₹43 crore at the box office within three days of its release. The cast includes Dhanush, SJ Suryah, Selvaraghavan, Prakash Raj, Kalidas Jayaram, Sundeep Kishan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Aparna Balamurali, and Dushara Vijayan with music composed by AR Rahman. It is Dhanush's 50th film.
