On April 24, the South Indian Film Editor's Association (SIFEA) announced that editor Pradeep E Ragav has been temporarily suspended, due to violation of the association's by-laws, after it was revealed that a freelance editor, hired by Pradeep, is the main accused behind the leakage of the entirety of Vijay's Jana Nayagan. After it was discovered that the film was leaked online on April 10, nine people have been arrested by the Chennai Cyber Crime wing.
In a conversation with CE, the president of the SIFEA, V Gopikrishna, explains that after Pradeep was questioned by the police, he appeared in the emergency meeting, which included the Association's working committee and several leading producers and explained the situation. "In his explanation to the committee Pradeep, it was revealed that an editor who was hired for another film, gained illegal access to the room, which contained footage of Jana Nayagan. The freelance editor copied the footage of the film, reel by reel, in February. Later, when the final version of the film was ready on March 1, he had gained access to that too."
The president reveals that before the leaks take place, a Google Drive link containing the film's footage was discovered, and when the production house found out the owner of the link, the team tried to negotiate with that individual in order to contain the situation, and to figure out the motive. Subsequently, that individual revealed that eleven other people have the link, with a freelance editor named, D Umashankar, being one of them. Umashankar, who works with some of the accused in the case, has been mentioned by them to the Chennai Cyber Crime police in the investigation. He recently filed an anticipatory bail at the Madras High Court, which KVN Productions requested the court to dismiss.
Gopikrishna further says, "While the main perpetrator was discovered, Umashankar, who is not related to the film industry, was found to be the reason, that the film leaked online, to the public." The Association's president further explains that the motive behind the leaks haven't been revealed yet, and further police investigations will provide the full picture.
Even though at the emergency meeting of SIFEA, the members agreed upon the decision to suspend Pradeep, president Gopikrishna says, "A meeting between the Producer's Council, FEFSI, and SIFEA, to discuss this matter, and further steps to be taken."
"But beyond further steps, we will also discuss further guidelines to be established to prevent further problems like this," says Gopikrishna, who reiterates that since trust plays a major role in an output which is valued in crores, guidelines need to be established.
When asked if the hiring of freelance editor for films is an unprecedented practice, the president says, "Union protocols are established to preserve the sanctity of a film. In this day and age, when access to technology creates editors everyday, the protocols are established to safeguard that trust. So even though freelance editors have been hired in the past, we try to avoid hiring a non-member to prevent problems like this. This is a practice that has been followed by unions that represent various departments in cinema."
