4,000 digital prints to have a special watermarkto track the screen from where pirated copiesare made using hand-held devices

The quadri-lingual (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi) multi-starrer Bahubali , the latest from the ‘Magadheera’ S.S. Rajamouli is all set to hit a whopping 4,000 screens globally on July 10.

With a budget of an estimated Rs. 200 crore, the biggest from the Telugu film industry, has in the lead, stars including Tamanna, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishna, Rana Daggubati and Prabhas.

On Tuesday, Mr. Rajamouli, producer Shobu Arlagadda, Mr. Rana and Mr. Prabhas got together and made a plaintive appeal, asking people not to deprive themselves of the experience of seeing Bahubali on a big screen.

Mr. Arvind said each of the 4,000 digital prints would have a special watermark that would help anti-pirate trackers zero in on the screen from where pirated copies are being made using hand-held devices, including smart phones, tablets and handycams.

They were also contemplating a one-year ban on the source of a pirated version, the producer said.

Through a ‘John Doe’ order that the makers got from a city court here on July 1, the exhibitor can also be held liable as an abettor to the crime.

‘John Doe’ orders are ex-parte injunctions against anonymous/unknown persons for copyright infringement, granted by a court even without hearing the other party.

To cite an example, Mirabhai Films got such an order against all cable operators before the release of the film ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2001), directed by Mira Nair.

Apart from the regular functioning of the Anti-Piracy Cell of the Andhra Pradesh Film Chamber of Commerce, led by Chairman Akella Rajkumar, the makers of Bahubali have put a dedicated monitoring system in place. “We have circulated copies of the ‘John Doe’ order to 350 ISPs (Internet Service Providers) across India, urging their support and compliance,” he said.