In a move that will surprise many, the producer of the Bollywood movie ’3 Idiots’ has announced ^[1] that, the movie will be legally available on YouTube within 12 weeks of its release.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra – the producer of the movie, hopes this will help in countering piracy. “I’m providing this facility for those who can’t see it on big screen and watch pirated movies. I just want them to discourage pirated prints. They just need to wait for 12 weeks and after that they can legally download the movie and watch it,” said Chopra.

Viewers will also be able to download the entire film from YouTube for a certain fee. Although the amount hasn’t been disclosed yet, this is probably the first time ^[2] where YouTube would be legally allowing video downloads. ’3 Idiots’ will signal Google’s entry into the pay-per-download business.

Indian film-makers have been trying various avenues in a bid to tackle rampant piracy. Earlier this year, movies like ‘Kaminey’ and What’s Your Raashee’ premiered ^[3] on DTH (direct to home) services, within a month of their theatrical releases. In a sense, Vidhu Vinod Chopra isn’t doing anything radical. But, with a low broadband penetration it will be interesting to see how profitable this experiment will turn out to be.