Bengali films leaked online before their theatrical release

It’s really getting hard to counter cyber mischiefs in a time when your hard worked projects are only a click away to get exposed. In the age of social media and integrated piracy, it’s most likely for the movies to get leaked on the internet first way before its release in the theaters. Be it ‘Sanju’, ‘Sultan’, ‘Manjhi’ - over the years we have seen so many Bollywood films getting leaked before they hit the theatres. However, for Bengali cinema surprisingly there are only a few occasions when films were leaked online. Here we look at 5 Bengali releases that got leaked even before they hit the box office.

Director Birsa Dasgupta did wonders in this Bengali supernatural thriller film. His perfect execution and brilliant treatment of the plot made Soham Chakraborty and Mimi Chakraborty’s characters an instant hit. It’s actually a remake of the 2012 Tamil blockbuster 'Pizza' starring Vijay Sethupathi and Remya Nambeesan. The Bengali version was widely appreciated for its interesting screenplay. But sadly, the thriller was leaked online before its theatrical release in 2014. Major parts of the film were uploaded on Youtube which eventually further delayed its release.

The preview copy of the director Quashik Mukherjee's controversial 'Gandu' was leaked on YouTube back in 2012. The film was uploaded from the account 'MrIceBox'. It was not identified that who uploaded the video, but the watermark of 'Preview Copy' suggested it was deliberately leaked by someone on YouTube. However, the film didn’t see a theatrical release as it was banned by censor board for showing explicit sexual scenes. The film revolves around an aspiring rapper Gandu who is frustrated with his life and a disturbed Kolkata neighbourhood. He often steals money from his mother and enjoys his life with a rickshaw puller friend Ricksha. The two are the partners in everything. They are addicted to drugs which hamper their sense of deciding what is real and what is hallucination. Being an experimental black and white film, 'Gandu' seeks answers to some of the most important questions of life.

This romantic comedy featuring Dev, Srabanti Chatterjee, Soham Chakraborty and Mimi Chakraborty in the lead roles turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 2015. It was a remake of the famous Tamil movie ‘Raja Rani’. Be it the supreme soundtrack or the amazing on-screen chemistry, the film became an instant blockbuster. While most of us are not aware of this romantic hit getting leaked without entering the theaters, it was actually one of those fortunate affairs that got away with it without any major setbacks. Many believed the film was leaked out from the post production.

One of the most encouragingly appreciated movie in Rituparna Sengupta’s career, this Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury directorial became an unfortunate affair to have leaked online almost a week before its theatrical release. However, only a few scenes from the film were uploaded online but those scenes played a significant part in the narrative. ‘Anuranan’ revolves around two couples. One is a successful and dynamic architect Rahul (Rahul Bose) and his wife Nandita (Rituparna Sengupta) who is traditionally a bit conventional despite staying in London for some years. When they return to Kolkata, they meet another couple Amit (Rajat Kapoor), a workaholic real estate developer and his charming, effervescent wife Preeti (Raima Sen). The closeness of the foursome turns out to be a see-saw, pitching several dimensions, building a resonance, a chord and it eventually echoes through their present and future.

Another biggie that tragically leaked online was Atanu Ghosh directed 2015 film ‘Abby Sen’. A HD quality uncensored version of the film was leaked online before the film could hit the theatres. The film revolves around Abby (Abir Chatterjee), a geek from 2013, loses his job following lower TRP ratings of his TV shows who he can’t tell his office ‘drop-out’ to wife Sromy (Arunima Ghosh). Abby with his friend Bimbo (Neel) then meets Mr. Dhiraj (Paran Bandopadhay) who suggests him to seek success for a channel of 1980 (Grand channel). A Scientist (Chiranjeet Chakraborty) helps Abby sending him to 1980. In the past, Abby finds a decent job and a new partner Paroma (Raima Sen). An eternal struggle of a sensitive person trapped between illusion and emotion gives this film a perfect sound narration. Plotting of witty and hilarious dialogues with every scene makes it a ‘Q Class’!