Vishnu Manchu's production house claims ‘vendetta' behind stolen Kannappa hard drive: ‘No secret who orchestrated this'

Hindustan Times

7 days ago

On Monday evening, news broke that a hard drive containing pivotal scenes from Kannappa was stolen by two individuals. Vishnu Manchu's production house, 24 Frames Factory, released a statement on Tuesday evening, revealing the 'vendetta' behind the move. Here's what the statement says. (Also Read: Hard disk containing 'unreleased data' of Kannappa stolen weeks before release; Vishnu Manchu prays at Jharkhand temple)
The production house confirmed that a hard drive containing pivotal scenes was indeed intercepted and stolen. 'A hard drive containing a pivotal action sequence between two lead characters of Kannappa, along with critical VFX work, was stolen during transit. The drive was shipped from Hive Studios, Mumbai, and intended to be delivered to our official production office.'
While there was speculation that the perpetrators who stole the drive worked for Team Kannappa, the production house put speculation to rest, 'Shockingly, the package was unlawfully intercepted and signed for by an individual named Mr. Raghu, who acted under the instructions of a woman named Charita. Neither of them are employees, representatives, or associates of 24 Frames Factory. Their act constitutes impersonation and theft.'
The production house revealed that a police case was filed over it four weeks ago, writing, 'A police complaint was formally filed nearly four weeks ago, and the investigating authorities have been fully briefed on the identity of those behind this. It is no secret who orchestrated this attempt—both we and law enforcement are well aware of the forces at play. The perpetrator's identity is known, and the motive is clear.'
They also claim to have received knowledge of plans to release over 90 minutes of footage from Kannappa, 'More disturbingly, credible intelligence has recently emerged that these individuals, under guidance from the same source, are planning to leak over 90 minutes of unreleased footage online in a desperate attempt to derail the release of Kannappa. In response, the Executive Producer has formally escalated the matter to Cyber Crime authorities to take swift and firm action.'
Vishnu's production house ended the note with, 'It is disheartening to see such cheap and calculated tactics being deployed from within the industry itself. This is not mischief—it is sabotage, and it reflects a deeply unfortunate descent into personal vendetta-driven behaviour. At a time when Telugu cinema is earning global recognition, stooping to such levels is not just regressive—it is disgraceful.'
They also mentioned that they stand united with the cast and crew of Kannappa who worked hard to make this film, asking the audience not to circulate any pirated footage, should it surface. 'Integrity will triumph,' they wrote at the end.
24 Frames Factory has filed a complaint with the Film Nagar police, alleging intentions to damage the project as the hard disk contains unreleased footage. Kannappa will be released in theatres on 27 June. It stars Vishnu, Mohan Babu, R Sarathkumar, Arpit Ranka, Kaushal Manda, Rahul Madhav, Devaraj, Mukesh Rishi, Brahmanandam, Raghu Babu, Preity Mukhundhan and Madhoo in lead roles and Mohanlal, Prabhas, Akshay Kumar and Kajal Aggarwal in cameos.