Karuppu Hit By Piracy Scare After Alleged Unauthorised Screenings In North India; Makers Issue Legal Notice

RJ Balaji’s upcoming film Karuppu, starring Suriya and Trisha Krishnan, faced a setback after its May 14 screenings were reportedly cancelled due to financial troubles involving producer SR Prabhu of Dream Warrior Pictures. Amid efforts to resolve the issue, the film was allegedly screened by Qube in Mumbai, Pune and Varanasi without the producer’s approval. Following the incident, Prabhu’s legal team issued a public notice to prevent the film from facing piracy concerns before its official release.

The notice reads, "I am the legal counsel for Dream Warrior Pictures, the Production House of the Tamil feature film Karuppu and I issue this Public Notice under instructions from and on behalf of my cilent. My client is the Producer and copyright owner of the film Karuppu, a high-budget feature film starring Actor Suriya, Trishna Krishnan and others, directed by R.J Balaji and with music composed by Sai Abhyankkar and the film is produced with investments running into several hundreds of crores. The film carries substantial theatrical, satellite, OTT, overseas and commercial value and was scheduled for a grand worldwide theatrical release across more than 20 countries and approximately 3,000 screens worldwide."

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"It has come to my client's utmost shock and dismay that due to unauthorised and illegal activation of KDMs by Qube Cinema Technologies, certain theatrical screenings of the Tamil version of the film Karuppu were unlawfully exhibited in North India without the final authorisation or approval of my client. As a consequence of such unauthorized exhibition, visuals, scenes, clips and other copyrighted portions from the film have been illegally recorded, accessed and circulated through various social media platforms and digital mediums," the notice further read.

"The general public is therefore strictly cautioned and advised not to download, receive, access, store, circulate, forward, exhibit or share any unauthorised content relating to the film Karuppu in any form whatsoever. Any person found involved in such activities hereafter shall face immediate legal action including civil and criminal proceedings before the appropriate authorities and courts, entirely at their own risk as to costs and consequences," it continued.

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The controversy erupted shortly after SR Prabhu met the Producers Council over the unauthorised screening of Karuppu by Qube in Mumbai, Pune and Varanasi. At a subsequent press conference, the makers revealed that the film was mounted on a massive Rs 140 crore budget. Council General Secretary Siva strongly criticised Qube, warning that such negligence could lead to piracy issues similar to Jana Nayagan and stated that compensation has been demanded for the huge loss.