Great Grand Masti, the third part of the Grand Masti sex-comedy franchise which is scheduled for release on July 22, was leaked online on Monday. The complete film of 2 hours and 14 minutes in a high-definition print, along with full credit titles can be seen online.
This is the second major Bollywood film in a month after Abhishek Choubey's Udta Punjab to be thus leaked online. Significantly both the leaked films are watermarked 'censor.' The censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani sees these leaked film as attempts to malign the censor board.
While the reactions of the producers and directors who were caught completely unawares by this stunning setback, ranged from "Too shocked to reply" to "Let me get back to you", the damage to the film's prospects at the box office when it opens on July 22 are serious and grievous.
Says a leading trade analyst, "The damage to Great Grand Masti by the online leakage would be far greater than Udta Punjab. Firstly, Udta Punjab was leaked just a day or two before its release date whereas Great Grand Masti is available online to anyone cares to click a good three weeks before it scheduled date of release.
Furthermore, the audience for the sex comedy is the young post-pubescent males who are on their computers all day long. Chances are, Great Grand Masti has lost a sizable chunk of its audience due to the online leakage."
