Pirates of Bollywood

by Kalyan C. Kankanala

A Tale of Piracy and Conspiracy

"Kill Piracy, Save Creativity." Shan, the biggest film producer in Bollywood, launches a first of its kind revolutionary offensive against pirates. It echoes all over India and begins to gain momentum. The pirates are pushed against the wall and brought to their knees everywhere, from courts to streets. Inspired by the overwhelming start, Shan presses ahead for the kill, but the pirates swiftly re-group and launch a vicious counter attack.

Arjun, a gifted and socially conscious Intellectual Property lawyer, acclaimed for his single handed victory in a highly publicized pharma patent case, visits Bombay to represent the Copyleft Foundation, a non profit organisation founded to promote creative freedom. While fighting the top entertainment lawyer in India, Arjun unwittingly pierces the piracy veil, and finds himself in the midst of Shan's war. Motivated to crack the piracy puzzle, Arjun joins forces with Helen, a young, driven officer with the IP Cell of Bombay police, and sets off on a voyage into the dark, dangerous world of piracy.

Set in Bombay, the seat of Bollywood, the novel zooms in on the tussle between film producers, who use copyright as a money making machine, and pirates, who thrive on slavish copying, defiance of copyright law at the core of their business. Court room drama, thrilling sequences, legal insights, and enriching encounters, paint a picture of Bollywood piracy, not too far removed from reality. Adding imagination to experience, Pirates of Bollywood gives wings to a conspiracy theory that underlies the seemingly unstoppable piracy racket.

Advance Review

" ... This copyright law fiction has project piracy as its lodestar, and this book indeed has all the makings of (dare I say) a Bollywood
Masala movie, albeit with the only difference that the author casts his mojo by interweaving the legal aspects of the copyright law debate within its theatrical setting of Bollywood in Mumbai…"

-Shalini Bengani, IP Kat.

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Dr. Kalyan is a storyteller and scribbler from Bangalore, India. He writes legal thrillers, crime mysteries and short stories. All his novels have blind protagonists and are well researched.

Professionally, Dr. Kalyan is an Intellectual Property Attorney. He works extensively with technology driven companies, film/music production houses and creative upstarts. Dr. Kalyan also teaches at premier institutes such as IIM, Bangalore and NLSIU, Bangalore. He earlier served as the national expert on IP for United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and was the member of animal ethics committee of Astra Zeneca.

Select Reviews of Dr. Kalyan’s Novels
” … There is suspense, violence, heroism, love, social commitment, humanism, poverty, law, legal analysis, arguments and much more in this novel which makes it a pleasurable reading. The novel has professional value which recommends itself to be read by lawmen (law teachers, law students and advocates) and entertainment value which recommends itself to be read by all.”
– Professor CS Patil, Director, KSLU, Writing in Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law (For Pirates of Bollywood)

“A blind lawyer, a virus outbreak, a dog that dreams and a patent infringement case. Dr. Kalyan Kankanala’s debut fiction, Road Humps and Sidewalks: The Path less travelled is an engrossing fast-paced legal thriller”
– Deepa Padmanabhan, The Hindu (For Road Humps and Sidewalks)

“But one thing is sure you simply can’t take a coffee break while enjoying the read-more addictive than caffeine! …”
– Jayashree Roy, Renowned Book Reviewer (For Pirates of Bollywood)

“Finished it in one sitting. Just couldn’t put it down. This… IP law thriller has all the hallmarks of a winner; corporate espionage, attempted kidnapping, foiled hits, court room romance, a corrupt Chief Justice and a David v Goliath battle over patents for a life-saving drug.”
– Dr. Caroline Ncube, IP KAT (For Road Humps and Sidewalks).

Reviews

[Gabriel Boutros · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I'm giving this book two stars on GR, and three stars on Amazon, since these are how to indicate that the book was ok for the respective sites.)

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
While the author of Pirates of Bollywood is an expert in the field of intellectual property, in this novel he has the unenviable task of trying to make copyright law interesting to the average reader. Although he tries very hard, he does not succeed. In fact, part of the problem is that he maybe tries too hard, giving us reams of details about the problems with movie and music piracy in India, and, in a series of long courtroom scenes, page after page of debate for and against copyright law.
That’s really too bad, because when the author isn’t sounding the alarm against copyright infringement, he actually has a fairly compelling murder mystery somewhere in here. But instead of showing us detectives investigating a series of murders that may be linked to international film piracy, he instead gives us a series of scenes with lawyers, film producers and even a few pirates themselves, discussing how to enforce or avoid copyright law, with only the occasional reference to the murders. Maybe I’m wrong, but I tend to think that the average reader of crime novels would be more interested in cops trying to catch murderers than in lawsuits and injunctions, and this book just puts too much emphasis on the wrong crime.
That doesn’t make this a bad book by any means, but it is far from compelling or gripping , and is too interested in the technical minutiae of copyright law. While I appreciated the author’s knowledge of his subject, and I realize that this kind of piracy results in multi-million dollar losses, after a while I found myself skimming through the scenes where copyright was being discussed until I got to the murder investigation. Those pages put together would make for an average length short story.

[Biswanath Banerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piracy is a growing concern for the thriving Indian film industry. According to one recent report by Earnest & Young, Indian film industry lost $ 959 million and around six lakh jobs thanks to piracy. Otherwise speaking the piracy rate is estimated to be at 60%. According to two independent reports, India is placed among the top ten countries in respect of P-2-P infringement. To the outside world, such types of image of India dubbed it as a country with no respect of copyright at all. To a community of internet users this piracy is a matter of no consequence and they get engaged to such acts with both domestic and international sites. In the grey market duplicated copies of recently released movies are available at a substantially lower price than the single ticket price of a third graded theater. So much so that celebrities like the chief minister of a state of India downloads a recently released movie from the internet and proudly announces about it in his facebook page! Video piracy is virtually a silent killer of the Indian film industry.
Under this gloomy scenario of Indian film industry, Dr. Kalyan.C. Kankanala‘s recently released legal thriller ‘Pirates of Bolywood’ assumes special significance. The writer, himself being a senior counsel in the field of intellectual property law has assimilated loads of information in this fiction adding up to the sheer brilliance of this fiction.

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[Somashekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading Pirates of Bollywood and found the novel absolutely interesting and gripping. Having read the earlier work in the series, Road Humps and Sidewalks, I was familiar with the protagonist Arjun Mamidi, and being a dog lover, was happy to note the appearance of his dog Neo in a few chapters.

Except for Arjun and his comic assistant Jose, all other characters in this novel are new. The story rotates around Helen Joseph, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Anti-Terrorist Squad, Mumbai Police. She investigates the invisible link between piracy and terrorism, which seems to be hitting all forms of road blocks, until of course, she meets Arjun. Thereafter things change dramatically until Arjun and Helen find who is behind the scenes. I will leave this part for you to find out.

I recommend this book very strongly. It has a great blend of supsense, action, and law. Copyright law, especially piracy, is an integral part of the novel, and holds the gripping story together like a seamless rope. For law thriller readers, this is a must read.

[Madhavarao K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read only two novels in my life so far. Both are written by Dr. Kalyan Kankanala. First, Road Humps and Sidewalks, and recently, Pirates of Bollywood. I started reading several novels earlier, but just could not finish any of them. How these books were different for me:

Both the books were written in very simple english. An average Indian can read them easily without a dictionary on hand, and

Both books were suspense thrillers around law, on topics that we see daily in news. Being an Indian you connect to them easily.

I just loved the story in Pirates of Bollywood. It had everything - suspense, action, knowledge, and masala. I could connect to many things in the story. How police behave?, Street sellors of pirated cds and DVDS, Court arguments and also, life of film stars. End to end, the book is full of entertainment.

[Vinita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Dr. Kalyan's Pirates of Bollywood over this weekend and absolutely enjoyed the read. Although I am not a big fan of legal fiction, I found this book to be very entertaining and utterly gripping. The pace is swift but did not seem hurried and author has done justice to every twist in the tale. He has dealt with the legal concepts with such ease that at no point did the book seem pedantic or boring. Every character the author introduced had life in them and he seems to have mastered the art of filling every character with emotion no matter how small the role of the character it. The book is a good mix of comedy, action and emotion. All in all a great read. I cannot think of a better way to have spent my lazy weekend!

[Sarthak Saran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pre-ordered this book and received it on 1st January, but could not read it until yesterday. This novel starts with a series of crimes in Mumbai, revolving around copyright issues. It then goes through a series of twists and turns before climaxing in an unbelievable finish. I just could not believe, who the fall guy is at the end?

The author is unorthodox, and this did not feel like an Indian work. Other than Arjun and Helen, the protagonists, I loved some of the characters in the novel. Especially, those of Ilahi, the DVD seller, Shivaji, the top cop, and Ghazni, the conniving, consultant.

Overall, this has been a great read, and am looking forward to the next work in the series.

[Fleur Tamargo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the book is very informative about copyright law. I'm reminded of the law subjects I took back in college. The author sounds like some of my law professors. I do wish it had a better title though, as I do not think the title is catchy enough. I like how the author introduces the reader into the world of Bollywood and its copyright issues. There were times in the book when I felt that the language was a bit too formal that it was kind of hard to relate to. But then, the subject matter is copyright law, so I guess that it is to be expected.

[Nithin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a great premise and is one of the best legal thrillers I had come across till date. An Indian novel which is in par with works of Grisham and Baldacci. What I liked the best about the book is the Perfect balance between action and story line. Rare is a storyteller who can provide a compelling plot and character development to have you turn pages long into the night.

[Vinita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasfortunate to get my hands on an advance copy. Its a fabulous read

[Nisha Kurian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting and gripping.