BOOM July | Page 18

ARTICLE By accident or design? When Bollywood film content gets leaked online W ith footage of Sunny Deol's soon-to-be-released film 'Mohalla Assi' being leaked online, we find out if in such cases there's more than meets the eye...They say, any publicity is good publicity. When footage of an unreleased film or snapshots of an actor's look from a fiercely guarded project are leaked online-incidents that are not at all uncommon these days - it causes a social media storm. It also becomes a talking point resulting in publicity for the film.Is it safe to hazard a guess that it might be the doing of the makers themselves? Or should we give them the benefit of doubt? Could someone allow an intrusion of their privacy to grab eyeballs? Or is there someone out there who's deliberately trying to harm the interests of the filmmaker? The culprit is almost never tracked down, so assumptions are rampant. The most common of them is that these leaks are marketing strategies adopted by the filmmakers themselves to create a buzz around their films before the release. Sunny days For the last couple of days, the leaked footage of Sunny Deol's long-forgotten film 'Mohalla Assi' has been doing the internet rounds and is suddenly being talked about. It became a rage on social media last week as most members of its star cast are seen mouthing expletives in it apart from some sexually explicit scenes. Incidentally, the film is slated to release next month. Legal wrangles Sunny and the film's director Chandraprakash Dwivedi have also landed in legal trouble. A complaint has been registered against them by the Varanasi-based organisation Sarvajan Jagruti Sanstha. Its mem