Vishnu Manchu alleges brother Manoj Manchu's involvement in Kannappa hard drive theft: ‘You all know what happened within our family'

Indian Express

2 days ago

Telugu actor-producer Vishnu Manchu has opened up about his upcoming film Kannappa's stolen hard disk, claiming his brother and actor Manoj Manchu is behind the theft. At a media interaction in Chennai on Friday, Vishnu stated that the two accused, Raghu and Charitha, who allegedly stole the hard disk, are employed by his brother Manoj. However, he added that he isn't certain whether Raghu acted on Manoj's instructions.
While answering questions about Kannappa's stolen hard disk at the promotional event of the film, Vishnu said that the VFX work is going on Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Dubai and London. 'When the VFX-related hard disk was sent from Mumbai, it reached my father Mohan Babu's residence in Film Nagar. It's the norm. We are three siblings and all our packages arrive there, and our respective managers would go collect it. Similarly, the hard disk arrived at our dad's residence. It was handed over to Raghu and Charitha, and they have been missing since then,' he elaborated.
The actor added, 'You all know what happened within our family. We tried to reach Manoj through our friends, but to no avail. We don't know if they stole it or acted upon someone's orders. It was after these attempts we filed a police complaint.'
The Manchu brothers have been embroiled in a family feud, which led to Manoj being ousted from their father Mohan Babu's residence.
Also Read | Vishnu Manchu's production house claims 'sabotage, personal vendetta' behind Kannappa's stolen hard drive: 'No secret who orchestrated this'
Vishnu Manchu also shared that the Kannappa hard disk is password protected and it would be difficult to crack it open. '99 per cent, you cannot crack the password, there is one per cent chance though. Even if they manage to leak the footage, I urge everyone not to watch the leaked footage. A lot of hard work has gone into the film,' he said.
The robbery took place in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, a month before Kannappa's release. In a statement released by his team after the theft, it was alleged that there's 'sabotage and personal vendetta' behind the incident. According to a police complaint, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, the footage was couriered to the office of production house 24 Frames Factory by a VFX vendor, from Mumbai on March 23.
The complaint also stated that the courier was sent by DTDC and a staff member of the production house received the courier and passed it to another member, who is now missing with the disk. 'The hard drive was taken without any authorisation and with malicious and deliberate intent,' the complaint in the FIR said.
Also Read | Hard disk with visuals of Vishnu Manchu starrer Kannappa 'stolen' from Hyderabad production house: Police
Kannappa is scheduled to hit the big screen on June 27. Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh and produced by Mohan Babu, the movie is based on the mythological story of Kannappa, a Lord Shiva devotee. Along with Vishnu Manchu, it also stars 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 cameo roles.