Zoya Akhtar’s production house loses 66 hard disks with unreleased footage

How the theft came to light

The matter surfaced when staff members searched for certain drives needed for ongoing work and found several storage boxes empty or damaged. An internal audit revealed that out of 119 hard disks on record at Tiger Baby, 66 were unaccounted for. Mumbai Police have since registered an FIR and arrested two individuals, including a company staffer. One of the accused has reportedly admitted to stealing 24 drives over five months, selling them for approximately Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 each, with suspicions that some disks later entered the grey market.

Data leak fears prompt cyber investigation

Beyond the physical theft, investigators are now focused on whether the content was copied, accessed, or leaked before the disks disappeared. Cyber experts may be brought in to determine if any unreleased footage has been circulated online or misused in any way, making this a case with potentially far-reaching consequences for the OTT and streaming landscape.

The incident adds to a difficult stretch for the Akhtar family. Zoya’s brother Farhan Akhtar is simultaneously embroiled in controversy over Don 3, after the Federation of Western India Cine Employees issued a non-cooperation directive against lead actor Ranveer Singh over an alleged Rs 45 crore compensation dispute tied to the film’s pre-production losses.Zoya Akhtar hard disk theft Tiger Baby