Ram Gopal Varma Says Piracy Can End Only If ‘Viewers Are Criminalised’

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has sparked debate with his latest post on X (formerly Twitter), where he addressed the growing problem of film piracy.

The Sarkar director said the issue persists not just because pirated copies are available, but because there is a large audience willing to watch them. “Piracy will never stop… as long as there are people who want to watch a pirated film, there will always be someone ready to provide it,” Varma wrote, criticising those who defend piracy and liken the suppliers to Robin Hood. He argued that by modern standards, Robin Hood would be seen as “the world’s first recorded terrorist,” adding that glorifying criminals simply because they provide something for free reflects “tonnes of ignorance.”

Varma dismissed the argument that piracy is justified because moviegoing is expensive, saying the same logic would imply robbing luxury car showrooms to distribute vehicles for free. Such thinking, he warned, can lead to “social collapse and anarchy.” He said people turn to pirated content mostly for convenience, not moral reasons, and claimed that even many in the film industry watch pirated films to save money and time.

Proposing what he sees as a stronger deterrent, Varma said both the suppliers and viewers of pirated content should be penalised. “Catching the pirate is difficult… but catching the viewer is easy,” he wrote. “Arrest a hundred random people watching pirated content and publicise their names.”