Karuppu producer worries about piracy after ₹140 crore Suriya, Trisha Krishnan film screened by ‘mistake’ in North India

Qube has been asked to provide compensation to team Karuppu after screening the movie by ‘mistake’ in Mumbai, Pune and Varanasi on May 14.

Fans across South India were waiting all Thursday to watch Suriya and Trisha Krishnan on the big screens, only to be told the shows were cancelled. In the meantime, fans from Mumbai and Pune began posting videos from screenings, claiming that screenings had resumed at their theatres. Producer SR Prabhu of Dream Warrior Pictures held a press conference with the Producers Council after fearing piracy of the ₹140 crore film. (Also Read: All shows for Suriya, Trisha Krishnan's Karuppu cancelled; Dhanush, Dulquer Salmaan say it ‘deserves proper release’)

Trisha Krishnan and Suriya star in RJ Balaji's Karuppu.

Karuppu screened in Mumbai, Pune, Varanasi

Numerous Suriya and Trisha fans posted videos on social media from screenings in Mumbai, Pune and Varanasi, even as theatres across the world kept sharing updates that shows were getting cancelled. While some wondered whether the videos were AI-generated, others realised that shows were being resumed in these regions, making it even more confusing why the film wasn’t being shown down south. Key scenes from the film are being shared online, including some spoilers.

Music composer GV Prakash, who noticed this, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “In this Challenging time for team #Karuppu and Suriya Sir…..Hoping everything gets sorted soon for a successful release. We are with u suriya sir. Don’t support piracy.” Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu wrote, “#Karuppu deserves to be experienced on the big screen. Hoping everything falls into place soon and audiences get to celebrate the film in theatres the way it truly deserves. God is there.. @Suriya_offl na @RJ_Balaji @prabhu_sr.”

Karuppu producer worries about piracy

An emergency meeting was held at the Producers’ Council regarding this, attended by Prabhu, Gnanavelraja, and Council executives Dhanu, T Siva, Kathiresan, and others. Talking to the press afterwards, Siva, General Secretary of the Council, called it ‘shocking’ that Qube, the digital cinema system, screened the film without the producer's go-ahead, who is facing financial issues. They questioned what kind of protection producers can have when a high-budget film like this is released in error.

He also mentioned that Qube called it a ‘human error’ and that someone had screened the film, which they revealed was shot on a budget of ₹140 crore, by ‘mistake’ in these regions. “They said Jana Nayagan was pirated due to the negligence of an editor. Now, if Karuppu was released due to a staff member's negligence, where will this end? We have condemned Qube and asked them how they will fix this. Since this is a huge loss, we have asked for compensation.”

Producer Dhanu said, “We have immense faith in Qube. This has never happened in their career. They have admitted that it was their fault. They have informed us that they will discuss the loss incurred with their legal team and pay for it.” The Council also mentioned that, given how they do not know how much footage was shown to the audience without authorisation and now that shows have been cancelled, the producer is worried about piracy.

All shows for Karuppu have been cancelled on May 14. The film’s team is yet to confirm if shows will resume on May 15.