Cyber crime experts confirmed that Salman Khan's new film Sultan had been leaked online a day before its scheduled release in cinemas
After Udta Punjab, the movie piracy syndicate has allegedly targeted the most keenly-awaited film of the year - Sultan, starring Salman Khan.
Cyber experts claim that the online leak of Sultan came just a day before its release in over 4,500 screens across India.
According to cyber experts, the movie was leaked on the darknet and is yet not available on torrent.
This is the second such incident in a week, with a Censor Board copy of Indra Kumar’s multi-starrer Great Grand Masti being leaked online three days back.
Salman Khan’s Sultan is being distributed in India by Yash Raj Films.
“The leak is confirmed. The copy of the movie is available on the darknet and soon it will be available on torrent,” said Deep Shankar, a cyber crime expert.
Another cyber investigator, Kislay Chaudhary, claimed that links to the two hour 36 minute-long movie are available, and shared a screenshot with Mail Today.
“Many websites have been blocked since Tuesday evening and links are removed immediately after uploads,” Chaudhary said.
However, Yash Raj Films have denied any information about a leak.
Some cyber experts have claimed that there are no active links to the movie and that it was the trailer which had been morphed and circulated on social media.
“Great Grand Masti has been definitely leaked, but no active links of Sultan’s censor copy can be found online. However sources are saying that there has been a leak and that the movie was available for sometime but was pulled down immediately,” said Nitish Chandan, cyber security expert.
Prints of Great Grand Masti are available on various online portals. Like the print of Udta Punjab, these also carried the ‘Censor Copy’ watermark.
The film’s management team is working hard to remove the online links, even having tweets and Facebook updates removed.
They have managed to delete a few links, as many websites have removed the content with the message, “removed due to a copyright complaint”.
After a screenshot of the leaked movie was uploaded on Twitter, the website released the message: “The following material has been removed from your account in response to the DMCA take-down notice.”
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, also known as the DMCA, helps copyright holders have their stolen content removed fast.
According to experts, Sultan will not suffer much monetary loss as it was leaked just a day before its release - but Great Grand Masti may suffer as there are still 17 days before the movie hits big screens.
Sultan is already trending on social media websites. Trade analysts are predicting a Rs 150 crore opening weekend for the film (the movie releases on a Wednesday). Some are even saying that this will be Salman’s second film to hit Rs 300 crore.
Ironically, both Great Grand Masti and Udta Punjab faced problems in getting their movies passed from the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Like Udta Punjab, the Pahlaj Nihalani-headed board had asked the makers to make certain ‘adjustments’ in Great Grand Masti.
“Considering the wide range of torrent and increased internet accessibility, the film’s future is doomed unless the makers file a case against these pirates,” said a cyber expert.
However, there are no reports of any formal complaints being filed by the makers of Great Grand Masti or Sultan yet.
In the case of Udta Punjab, Mumbai Police had taken strict actions and the owner of a torrent site was arrested.
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