‘Kannappa’ under attack from piracy, says actor Vishnu Manchu

Actor Vishnu Manchu, whose big-budget film Kannappahit the screens on June 27, 2025, has alleged that his movie has been hit by piracy. Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, the devotional action drama is produced by veteran Mohan Babu.

Two days after its worldwide release, Vishnu Manchu took to social media to allege the issue of piracy. “Kannappa is under attack from piracy. Over 30,000 illegal links have already been taken down. This is heartbreaking,” he wrote on X.

Interestingly, ten days before the release of the movie, the producers of Kannappa had filed a complaint over the theft of the movie’s hard disk, containing VFX visuals. The makers alleged that “a hard drive containing a pivotal action sequence between two lead characters of Kannappa, along with critical VFX work, was stolen during transit. The drive was shipped from Hive Studios, Mumbai, and intended to be delivered to our official production office.”

Kannappa tells the tale of Thinnadu (Vishnu Manchu), a fearless warrior who transforms into Lord Shiva’s ultimate devotee. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar appears in the role of Lord Shiva. Mohanlal plays Kirata, while Prabhas essays Rudra. Kajal Aggarwal and Preity Mukundhan are the other actors in the movie.

The pan-Indian movie was off to a decent start at the box office, collecting ₹9 crore on the opening day. The Telugu occupancy for the film was 55.89 per cent. Kannappa was also released in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam. By the end of the opening weekend, the film had earned ₹23.75 crore, according to reports.

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The Hindu review of the film said, “With a sprawling ensemble that includes veterans like Madhoo, Brahmanandam, Sapthagiri, Brahmaji, Mukesh Rishi, and Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran, the film is overpopulated and underwritten. Of these, only Sarath Kumar and Mohan Babu leave a lasting impression. Vishnu Manchu finds his footing in the emotional climax, but by then, much of the momentum is already lost.

Ultimately, Kannappa had a moving legend to build upon — a tale of unwavering faith and sacrifice. But what it needed was not more star power or visual gloss, but storytelling rooted in emotional clarity and cultural texture. In striving for grandeur, it forgets to tell the story that matters.”