Hindi
A comic book that talks on dangers of online piracy
MUMBAI: School children across the country will soon be learning about the dangers of online film piracy through a comic book entitled ‘Escape from Terror Byte City‘, launched by the recently formed Bollywood-Hollywood anti-piracy coalition.
A local adaption of a comic originally developed by New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft, the book tells the story of two boys who are trapped in a virtual city after downloading an unauthorised copy of a film from a peer-to-peer file sharing site.
The comic book, endorsed by the Department of Information Technology, Mumbai Police, Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), will be published in three languages Hindi, Marathi and English.
In the coming months, 10,000 comic books will be distributed in Mumbai to children aged five to ten in schools, multiplexes and malls.
Revealing the intention behind bringing out the comic book, UTV Motion Pictures vice president Prakash Nathan said, “Internet piracy is becoming increasingly rampant among online audiences. We must begin to reach out to people across age brackets and social strata.
“School children are at an impressionable age and do not always know the distinction between legal and illegal. The comic book is a valuable step in educating them about online piracy.”
Internet piracy jeopardises the ability of a film to make money and impacts the level of investment available for new films.
Averred Motion Picture Dist Association (India) MD Rajiv Dalal, “As the first building block of our brand-new educational initiative, we are targeting kids who are influenced by what they read and see.
“We hope that putting this in comic form makes the message more accessible, interesting and exciting to the children. We look forward to working with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to extend this initiative and have this comic distributed to all school children across the country.”
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.
