Case filed over unauthorised possession of VFX hard drive from Vishnu Manchu's 'Kannappa'

Hyderabad | A case was registered against two persons here following a complaint accusing them of the "unauthorised" possession of a hard drive containing highly sensitive content related to the upcoming movie 'Kannappa', police said on Tuesday.

'Kannappa', starring Telugu actor Vishnu Manchu in the lead role, is scheduled for release on June 27.

The mythological epic narrates the story of the titular legendary devotee of Lord Shiva.

The film is directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh and produced by Manchu’s banners, AVA Entertainment and 24 Frames Factory.

24 Frames Factory, a content development company, said in a post on 'X' on Tuesday that 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 was intended to be delivered to our official production office. Shockingly, the package was unlawfully intercepted and signed for by an individual named Raghu, who acted under the instructions of a woman named Charita. Neither of them is an employee, representative, or associate of 24 Frames Factory. Their act constitutes impersonation and theft," it said.

24 Frames Factory further claimed these individuals 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, it added.

"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," the post read.

Based on the complaint filed by an executive producer of 24 Frames Factory, a case was registered under section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) of the BNS at Filmnagar Police Station on May 25, and further investigation is ongoing, a police official said.

The complainant stated that one of their VFX vendors based in Mumbai had dispatched the hard drive containing crucial data to their company's office address in Filmnagar through courier.

As per the courier agency's records, the parcel was delivered on March 25 to an office boy.

Upon verification, it was found that the office boy handed over the hard drive to a woman.

The hard drive was taken by the woman without any authorisation or intimation to the company, with "malicious and deliberate" intent, which amounts to unauthorised possession and criminal breach of trust, the complainant alleged.

A team member contacted her, but she has since been evasive and uncooperative, he said.

"The hard drive contains unreleased, confidential, and highly sensitive data about the film 'Kannappa'. Any mishandling, leakage, or loss of this content will result in irreparable financial and reputational damage to our organisation," the complainant stated.