After 90 minutes’ footage of Kannappa is stolen, makers file police complaint against two staffers; work with cyber crime authorities to prevent leak ahead of June 27 release
Vishnu Manchu in Kannappa; Akshay Kumar; Mohanlal and Prabhas
Actor and producer Vishnu Manchu, who leads the ambitious Telugu mythological drama Kannappa, is grappling with a major crisis. Around 90 minutes of the film’s raw footage was stolen, allegedly by production hands Raghu and Charitha, on May 25. While the incident hasn’t hampered the post-production process of the June 27 release as the team has a copy of the footage, it has prompted fears of an online leak among the makers. We have learnt that Twenty Four Frames Factory, the banner behind Kannnappa, swiftly filed a complaint at the Film Nagar Police Station in Hyderabad against the two, accusing them of absconding with the footage with the malicious intent of sabotaging the project.
A source from the production team reveals that the footage was compromised when a hard disk, containing the rushes, was being sent from the Mumbai-based Hive Studios to the banner’s Hyderabad office. According to the DTDC courier’s delivery logs, the hard disk was delivered to a staff member named Raghu on May 25. Since then, both Raghu and Charitha have gone missing.
The production house is now working closely with Hyderabad’s cyber crime authorities to prevent a leak. An insider says, “We have also roped in global cyber security experts to ensure that no frame of the film makes it to the internet. Telegram, WhatsApp, X, and other social media sites are being monitored closely. The scenes in question are pivotal to the story. Any premature exposure would be creatively and financially devastating.”
The compromised footage includes critical sequences shot in New Zealand. The insider adds, “If the footage is leaked, reshooting those parts is out of the question. The New Zealand shoot took months of prep, and permits that took six months to be procured. It will not only cost several crores to replicate, but will also be
infeasible given the actors’ tight schedules.”
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