Within hours of its theatrical release, the full film was leaked onto several torrent sites. This comes as a huge blow to the makers as the film was mounted on a huge Rs 350 crore budget.

It was also reported that filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri‘s latest film ‘The Kashmir Files‘ also leaked on piracy websites and is available for free downloads. The film that stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty and Darshan Kumar, tells the story of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.

These leaks come at a time when Bollywood is trying to pick itself back up and also trying to revive cinemas that took a beating during the covid-induced lockdown. Early this year films like Ajith Kumar’s ‘Valimai’ and Yami Gautam and Neha Dhupia’s ‘A Thursday’ among many other films were also leaked online.

That’s not all the bad news that came in for team ‘Radhe Shyam’. According to reports, the Hindi dubbed version of the film received a lukewarm response at the box office. The early estimated collections on day one were reported to be around Rs 4.50 crore nett. There could be a silver lining as circuits like Odisha, Saurashtra, may give higher numbers than expected while the film is expected to earn decent revenue from Hyderabad and Nizam.

In the film written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar, Prabhas plays the role of Vikramaditya, a palmist who is conflicted between destiny and his love for Prerana, essayed by Pooja Hegde.

“With ‘Radhe Shyam’, I want to show a different side of me and a different kind of entertainment. It has various new elements as it is not just about a guy with a flower, falling in love with a girl. My character is the world-renowned palmist Vikramaditya who doesn’t have a love line on his hand. The story explores the complications that arise in their relationship and how destiny plays a role. There is a love story, emotions and drama in this,” Prabhas said about his character in an interview with PTI.

Though the actor’s slate is packed with films like Om Raut’s ‘Adipurush’, Nag Ashwin-directorial ‘Project K’ and ‘Salaar’, directed by Prashant Neel, Prabhas is committed to making intimate projects that are rooted in reality and ‘Radhe Shyam’ is a step towards that direction.

He explained, “‘Baahubali’ and ‘Saaho’ were truly commercial films. I’m trying to go to the next level now. I’m going slow because I have a lot of responsibilities and projects. I don’t want to do things drastically but ‘Radhe Shyam’ is a start. Next, I have planned a comedy film. If these can do well and give me confidence, then I plan to go more real. Maybe a whole movie set in a room which larger-than-life Prabhas wouldn’t do. But I should do it and I should make it a hit.”

It is easy for Prabhas to be a part of such a project but the challenge is to get the script right, he added. “It is very easy to do. I can reduce my remuneration, which I did for ‘Radhe Shyam’ and ‘Saaho’. I can even take zero remuneration and do the film but the main point is how to get the right script…”