Bollywood Film Leaked on YouTube Before Theatrical Release

Bollywood is notorious for being the victim of piracy. Usually Bollywood films are available for illegal online viewing hours after a film's release. However, Tuesday morning every director's worst nightmare came true - a Bollywood film got leaked on YouTube months before its theatrical release. The film is none other than Bollywood director Sudhir Mishra's "Tera Kya Hoga Johnny."

Mishra's film, in the can for about two years, and was set for release in April 2010. The film premiered at the London International Film Festival in Oct. 2009 and was also screened at several other film festivals, including the MIAAC Film Festival in New York in November 2009.

"I am horrified to hear of the piracy of Sudhir Mishra's film," said Aroon Shivdasani, executive director of the IAAC, which organizes the MIAAC Film Festival. "We screened the film at our festival and, as is our policy, returned it to the address given to us immediately after the festival."

The filmmakers were considering dubbing the film in English for international audiences, and Mishra expressed his desire to make a sequel to the movie.

Although Mishra has not seen the leaked print yet, he is confident it must be a rough cut of the film. "My version of the film is not mixed, the music is not right," Mishra said. "We had made a rough festival version. This must be that rough version."

Within the past few months, several other Indian films have also been leaked online. Anurag Kashyap's "Paanch," which was shot in 2000 but never permitted a theatrical release by Indian censor boards, was available for downloading in December 2009. K.S. Ravi Kumar's Tamil Film "Jaggu Bhai" was also released online illegally before its theatrical release.

"Tera Kya Hoga Johnny" revolves around a poor boy named Johnny (Sikander Agarwal) who sells tea on the streets of Mumbai, but dreams of a better life in Dubai. The film also stars Bollywood actors Neil Nitin Mukesh, Shahana GoswamiShahana GoswamiShahana Goswami, Soha Ali KhanSoha Ali KhanSoha Ali Khan, Vijay Maurya, Kay Kay Mennon, Karan Nath. Film directors Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Bhattacharya and Anurag Kashyap also make special appearances in the film.