Thiruvananthapuram, May 09: Leading malayalam film stars and representatives of the movie industry today urged Chief Minister A K Antony to take stringent steps to check distribution of pirated video cassettes and CDs of new films. Mammootty, Fazil, Siddique, Kireedam Unni and Siyad Koker met the Chief Minister today and submitted a memorandum demanding the formation of special cells, police squads and courts to probe and try cases relating to video piracy. They also showed Antony copies of some of the new releases. Piracy was destroying the industry which employed around 2.5 lakh people, they told reporters after meeting the Chief Minister. The film personalities, representing Kerala film chamber, Association of Malayalam Movie artistes (AMMA), MACTA and producers' and exhibitors associations, also met state information minister M M Hassan and discussed the issue, sources said.

Bureau Report