Following the release of Salman Khan’s ‘Sikandar’ the makers are having to deal with the film leaking online for download and streaming.
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Salman Khan’s highly-awaited action-drama, ‘Sikandar’ finally hit the silver screen on March 30. Bringing in the festive spirit of Eid, fans expected the film to be the return of the star in his element. While the film opened to a lukewarm box office response, it faces another major hurdle- piracy.
On the day of ‘Sikandar’s release, the complete film leaked online. Several piracy websites are offering the film for streaming and download. These include sites like Tamilrockers, Movierulz, Just watch, mp4moviez, Filmyzilla, Filmywap, Movies4u, and Telegram groups. Soon, searches like ‘Sikandar download movie’ started gaining traction on search engines. Curious viewers also started to look up how they could download Sikandar online or watch Sikandar online.
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Soon, the makers of ‘Sikandar,’ Salman’s fan clubs, and Mumbai Police’s cyber cell department took swift action to take down those illegal links. Subsequently, Sajid Nadiadwala’s production house, fans, and the authorities successfully took down over 3,000 links allowing viewers to stream and download the film. The availability of the title online is likely to pose a threat to the box office collections of the film.
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The hurdle of piracy is not a novel concept in Bollywood. Several titles often fall prey to such practices which gravely affect their business. The availability of the title online not only impacts the box office numbers but also often leads to losses for the stakeholders. Time and again, filmmakers have advised fans not to indulge in the illegal act of piracy which is against the law.
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Weighing in on the repercussions, trade expert Komal Nahta noted that the business will likely suffer a blow due to the leak. Speaking with ANI, Nahta said, “I got to know late last night that it had been leaked. This morning, I spoke to seven-eight people from the trade. They said yes, it had happened. And then I also got to know that Sajid Nadiadwala and the authorities took the film down from thousands of sites. But by then, the damage was done because people had downloaded it on their mobiles. So, it is very sad. It will affect the collections a lot. The film is not extraordinary, and if people have got the film on their phones, then why will they go to the cinemas? At least 30 to 40 per cent of the business has been lost because of this.”
Meanwhile, the opening day collection of the film is also not on par with Salman’s previous grand openers. As per Sacnilk, ‘Sikandar’s first-day net domestic collection stands at 26 crores, in all languages. The gross collection stands at 31 crores. On the other hand, the 10 crore overseas sales escalated the worldwide collection for day 1 to 41 crores. Meanwhile, looking at the domestic figures, the film witnessed an overall 20.95 per cent Hindi occupancy on Sunday in 2D. Conversely, it recorded an overall 22.96 per cent Hindi Occupancy in IMAX 2D.
Also Read: Salman Khan’s ‘Sikandar’ fails to record a smashing opening
‘Sikandar’ also features Rashmika Mandanna, Kajal Aggarwal, Sharman Joshi, Prateik Smita Patil, and Sathyaraj in key roles. Sajid Nadiadwala has bankrolled the title with AR Murugadoss at the helm.
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