An attempt to market the upcoming edition of the comedy series “Sabhuku Vharazipi” has proved costly for the producers after pirates downloaded promotional clips from YouTube and packaged them into a fake DVD.
The fake “Zabhuku Vharazipi 3” is on the streets with its disjointed scripts that make it a poor product and could jeopardise the original DVD when it is eventually released.
The leak has seen many comedy fans being duped of their money in a development that could also financially affect the original “Sabhuku Vharazipi 3.”
Pirates took advantage of the clips that producers uploaded on YouTube to announce the upcoming release.
The Herald Entertainment is in possession of the fake DVD.
Besides being disjointed, the clips are short and would disappoint comedy lovers buying the fake product.
Producer of the comedy Wellington Chingara, who also acts as “Chairman” in the series, said it was a disgrace that people were being duped.
“It all started last week when we announced that the production will be ready by end of this month. They took advantage of the clips we uploaded on YouTube and came up with this fake product,” he said.
He said they have been receiving calls since last week.
“We have been receiving calls from concerned viewers complaining about the substandard quality of the fake DVD. We have also received calls from suspected pirates that ask suspicious details about the upcoming original DVD.”
Chingara said they have decided to have the DVDs done in China to minimise the scourge of piracy.
“When we did ‘Vharazipi 2’ we realised that most of the guys who came to buy first copies were pirates and our income was just $200. We have decided to have it done in China this time in order to make it difficult to copy.
“We know they will eventually succeed to pirate it but we will have sold more copies by then. It is unfortunate we might be affected by this fake DVD on the streets,” he said.
According to him, they have invested $23 000 in the production of the DVD.
“Our production cost has gone to $23 000 so far including shipping and buying of DVDs for the production in China,” he said.
The arrival of the DVDs has been delayed because of the transport logistics involved.
“The DVDs are being shipped from China because it is cheaper though it takes time,” he said.
He refused to give this publication the exact dates when the comedy would be released.
Reports recently suggested that the production was delayed because the producers had fallen on hard times.
Chindara said they had been duped by sponsors who promised to finance the project.
“We had been promised sponsorship by several people who did not honour their pledges and that is another major cause for the delay. We managed to raise money for the production on our own,” he said.
