Hindi
Artificial Eye bags Peepli Live for UK distribution
MUMBAI: Artificial Eye has bagged the distribution rights of Peepli Live, a farcical contemporary comedy set in rural India, for UK.
The film, written and directed by Anusha Rizvi and produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao along with Ronnie Screwvala, tells the story of an impoverished farmer who learns of a government scheme to aid the families of indebted farmers if they commit suicide and, thus, decides on a very drastic plan to save his land from re-possession.
The film stars Khan along with Raghubir Yadav, television presenter Malaika Shenoy, Shalini Vatsa, Farrukh Jaffer, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vishal Sharma.
Peepli Live was the first Indian film to release in the World Cinema competitive section at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year before it was screened at this year‘s Berlin International Film Festival.
Artificial Eye, a DVD distributor in the US and UK, specialises in foreign-language film distribution for the UK market.
Hindi
Dhurandhar 2 hit by YouTube leak amid record box office run
Cam-rip surfaces online but blockbuster streak continues at record pace
MUMBAI: It has been a dramatic week for Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Even as the espionage thriller smashes box office records, a piracy scare briefly threatened to steal its thunder after a full-length version surfaced on YouTube.
The leak emerged on March 30 via a channel titled “A2z movie”, which uploaded what appeared to be a cam-recorded print of the film. Clocking in at nearly three hours and 49 minutes, the footage was reportedly blurry but complete enough to spark spoilers and fan outrage online.
Soon after, users on X began flagging the issue, explicitly naming the “A2z movie” channel in their posts while tagging the film’s makers and urging swift legal action. Fans of director Aditya Dhar and lead star Ranveer Singh were particularly vocal, helping the issue gain rapid traction.
Within hours, the video was taken down, likely through a mix of platform detection systems and intervention by producers Jio Studios and B62 Studios.
Despite the leak, the film’s theatrical run remains virtually unshaken. As of March 31, the sequel has raked in an estimated Rs 872.17 crore net in India, with worldwide collections soaring to Rs 1,392.23 crore. Its Hindi opening day alone brought in Rs 102.55 crore, setting a new benchmark.
In a notable milestone, the film has matched Pushpa 2 as the fastest Indian release to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark globally, achieving the feat in just seven days.
Interestingly, the version leaked online is believed to be an earlier cut. Midway through its theatrical run, the makers issued revised prints after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a fleeting editing error involving a cameraman’s reflection. The corrected version now plays across cinemas, adding an unusual twist to the film’s release journey.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, the high-stakes sequel stars Ranveer Singh alongside Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Sara Arjun. The film has drawn praise for its scale and action sequences, though some critics have pointed to its intense violence and layered political themes.
For now, piracy may have made noise, but it has not slowed the juggernaut. If anything, the episode underlines the film’s cultural grip, proving that even a leak cannot derail a box office storm already in full force.
