Days ahead of Kabzaa’s OTT premiere, HD prints of Upendra-starrer leaked online

If the build-up that filmmaker R Chandru gave his film Kabzaa is anything to go by, it should have, ideally, been the next big thing from Kannada cinema. Instead, it left an indelible stain on Kannada cinema, that the rest of the country is unlikely to forget (or forgive) anytime soon. Chandru not only made a mockery of the whole pan-India trend, but also thought he could get away by presenting a cheap version of KGF by hyping the ‘presence’ of three superstars in his film. Eventually, none of his gimmicks worked and the film was panned by audiences across the country.

Luckily for the filmmaker, though, he was able to sell the digital and satellite rights of the film well before it came to theatres and the negative reviews poured in. In fact, Kabzaa will be the second big-ticket from Kannada after Kranti to drop on OTT within 30 days of its theatrical outing. The Upendra-led gangster flick is expected to be on Amazon Prime Video on April 14 in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi.

Kabzaa on OTT: Recapping what audiences disapproved of filmmaker R Chandru’s Upendra-led film ahead of its streaming debut 

However, with only days to go for its OTT premiere, high-definition prints of the film have been leaked online. Earlier this week, an HD print of the Tamil version of Kabzaa was circulated, with Kannada and Telugu also allegedly available on multiple piracy sites. While pirated prints of Kabzaa were available on March 17 itself, it is only now that HD prints have come out. The feedback from audiences who watched these leaked prints have not been any better than from those who actually caught the film in theatres and social media is abuzz with tweets about how bad #Kabzaa is.

The film, meanwhile, revolves around Arkeshwara (Upendra), an air force officer and son of a freedom fighter, who takes to a life of violence in the underworld, after a revenge spree against those who murdered his brother. Firmly believing that there is no redemption for him, Arkeshwara sticks to the ‘once a criminal, always a criminal, line and sets out to make a name for himself in the underworld, with his ascend to the top a gory blood bath.