Hours after Vishal’s 25th film, Sandakozhi 2, released on Thursday, it was leaked online allegedly by the notorious piracy group, Tamil Rockers. It was also reported that the Telugu version of the film, Pandem Kodi 2, and Dhanush-Vetrimaaran’s Vada Chennai, that released on Wednesday, too were leaked on the website. This despite the Tamil Nadu Film Producers’ Council’s move to not screen the films in nine theatres that, they alleged, had a hand in pirating films.
The Tamil Nadu Film Producers’ Council (TFPC), headed by Vishal, issued a circular on Tuesday, conveying their collective decision to refrain from screening new releases in nine theatres – seven in TN and two in Karnataka – for their alleged hand in pirating Tamil movies. Vishal, the General Secretary of the Nadigar Sangam and the President of the Tamil Film Producers’ Council, who has vowed to root out piracy from the industry, announced that his film would not be screened in those nine theatres. This move, however, has clearly not helped in curbing piracy.
This is not the first time that the film industries are contending with piracy and ‘leaks’. In January this year, widely acclaimed movie Aruvi was leaked just a day after its release, but the makers of the movie were able to take down the page that leaked it, thus curbing the damage. Later, 15 seconds of Rajinikanth’s Kaala was leaked online and the makers of the film lodged a complaint with the Chennai police’s cyber cell.
In September this year, the Telugu version of actor Samantha’s U Turn was leaked online for full viewing just a few hours after its release. The Pawan Kumar directorial was made available on Movierulez, a torrent site. It was also reported that Samantha’s other Tamil release, Seema Raja, too was leaked online on Tamil Rockers immediately after its release. However, it was reportedly removed in a few hours.
Sandakozhi 2 is the sequel to the 2005 hit movie which was directed by Lingusamy. The film stars Vishal, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Keerthy Suresh in lead roles. Sandakozhi 2 has been produced by Vishal in association with PEN India. The film’s music has been scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja, who worked on the first film as well.