On 14th March, an article written by Raja Sen, has been featured in TOI which states that the viewers should watch the pirated version of Mahesh Bhatt’s forthcoming film “Blood Money” to seek revenge from Viacom18, the co-producers of the film for not releasing the Hollywood film “Hugo” in India. It is shocking that such a direct and derogatory statement has been made on a public forum with lack of remorse. The film fraternity is churning out movies and providing entertainment to the masses for decades and everyone is aware of the damage being done to this industry because of Piracy. The industry has been facing issues like loss of business, content dilution, unemployment, etc. These are serious issues that need to be addressed instead of making loose statements that encourage or fuel the grave problem of Piracy. Such an act done by a responsible media house like TOI is not well accepted. It is irresponsible behaviour to publish such an article through a medium that reaches the masses and has a certain influence on them. Less than 15 days away from the release of Mahesh Bhatt’s Blood Money, this article does nothing but demean the film and hurts the sentiments of concerned parties. This could have serious repercussions on the Box Office of the film and it is not fair to the cast, crew and everyone who is associated with the movie to bear the brunt of this. Mukesh Bhatt, in response as a producer and the Vice President of the Film Producers Guild, stated that on one hand they have made a request to the PM to take action against piracy, here on the other hand there are media houses advocating it. They have also sent a legal notice to TOI. If you are against piracy and do believe that such encouragement to piracy is inappropriate and believe that a movie experience is the best while seen in the cinema hall, sign up for this petition right here and extend your support!