Salman Khan and Disha Patani in Bharat
Salman Khan and Disha Patani in Bharat song Slow Motion.YouTube

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif's recently released film Bharat has become the latest victim of online piracy as illegal notorious sites like TamilRockers have opened gates to download the full movie or online streaming for free. Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the movie stars an ensemble cast of Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Grover, Tabu and others apart from Salman and Katrina.

The illegal sites have released Bharat full movie download links with 1080p or 720p HD quality prints from unofficial servers. The full movie download is likely to hit the film's box office collection to a large extent.

Some of the pirated copies seems to have been shot from a handy camera with average print quality while some have made HD quality prints available.

However, this is not the first time a Bollywood movie has been hit by piracy. Earlier, movies like Simmba (Simba), Badhai Ho (Badhaai Ho), Thugs Of Hindustan (Thugs Of Hindostan), Zero, Race 3 and several other movies have also been leaked online which affected their overall box office performance at the domestic market.

Bollywood industry has been trying hard to stop the piracy of films for the past several decades. Some filmmakers and producers with the help of cybersecurity forces have managed to block sites that allow online users to download the latest Bollywood movies that get released almost every week.

The Union Cabinet, on February 6, had approved an amendment to the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to tackle the menace of film piracy and copyright infringement making penal provisions of a three-year jail term or Rs 10 lakh fine or both. The anti-camcording provision prohibits the illegal filming and recording of films in theatres.

Though the film fraternity had rejoiced over the announcement, it seems like there hasn't been any significant change or steps taken to curb and curtail piracy to prevent huge losses for the film industry. 

Bharat has opened to rave reviews from critics and audience alike and taken a flying start at the box office. The movie has collected Rs 42.30 crore on the opening day because of the immense buzz and strong word of mouth. 

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