In early December 2015, Sony Pictures Entertainment, an American entertainment company, suffered a devastating cyber attack, which leaked a number of yet-to-be-released films, in the likes of the Brad Pitt-starrer Fury and Annie, on the internet. The incident had at the time sparked debates over how to maintain safety in the age of the internet among Hollywood professionals and entertainment entrepreneurs. 

In Nepal, too, the incidents of films and posters being leaked are not new. 

Early this month, actress Barsha Raut leaked an image from the film Chhakka Panja 2, which is currently on production, and is slated for release in October. Now, the climax stills from the upcoming film Prem Geet 2 have been leaked, after one of the film’s technicians posted the images on his Facebook account, which has sent the film unit into distress. 

“The images are crucial ones. They are from the film’s most seminal moments, and they hold the all the suspense. We are sad about the incident, said the film’s producer,” Santosh Sen said, in a conversation with the Post, “This is unfortunate.” 

The leaked images show actor Pradeep Khadka and producer-actor Santosh Sen in a fighting ring, ready to take on each other. 

“The climatic fight sequence was shot in a boxing club in Thailand. And the actors there are engaged in Muay Thai, a form of martial arts popular in Thailand. What we had planned was to publicise the film with the name of Muay Thai, so as to generate interest among moviegoers,” Sen said. “But one of the film’s crew members had the photos of it with him and he happened to post in on Facebook, without our permission; now that plan is down the drain.” 

Sen said that the stills don’t reveal any crucial cliffhangers about the movie, but the leak was still a breach of trust that was then amplified by social media. He also expressed relief that much more was not leaked, “It would have been really damaging if more was leaked. It is something that moviemakers do need to be careful about in this day and age.” 

Prem Geet 2, a sequel to 2016’s Prem Geet, is a musical and tells the story of Prem and Geet, its two protagonists, and their journey from Burma to Martha, a rural village in Mugu, Nepal. 

The film is slated to release on July 28.