Piracy Alarm as The Raja Saab Leaks Online; Police Zero In on Shadowy Operator ‘Naveen’

The Telugu film industry has been jolted once again by a fresh piracy scare, with the Prabhas-led The Raja Saab appearing on notorious illegal streaming platforms within days of its theatrical release. Even as cybercrime police tighten the noose around known piracy syndicates, investigators are now chasing a new and elusive figure believed to be operating behind the scenes.

According to police sources, a man identified only as Naveen has emerged as the suspected mastermind behind two of the most resilient piracy websites still active — 5movierulz and 1tamilmv. Despite repeated crackdowns and arrests in recent years, both platforms continue to resurface, drawing renewed scrutiny from law enforcement.

Leak triggers industry-wide alarm

The alarm was raised when The Raja Saab, one of the season’s major releases, surfaced online shortly after hitting theatres. The leak prompted swift action from the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), whose anti-piracy wing lodged formal complaints, urging cybercrime authorities to initiate a fresh probe.

What followed only deepened concerns. Investigators soon found that several high-profile films were being illegally streamed even before their official digital premieres, pointing to a piracy network that remains both active and adaptive.

Big films, heavy losses

Among the recent victims is The Raja Saab, starring Prabhas and Sanjay Dutt, which released in theatres on Friday and was quickly pirated online. Even more troubling for the industry is Dhurandhar, the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, which has reportedly surfaced on piracy platforms despite not yet releasing on OTT.

Police officials say most of the leaked versions are low-quality camcorder recordings, secretly filmed inside cinema halls, particularly in northern and eastern parts of the country. High-definition prints, they note, usually emerge only after digital releases. Still, even these cam prints are inflicting significant financial damage.

The mystery of Naveen

Who exactly is Naveen, and where is he operating from? That question lies at the heart of the ongoing investigation.

Cybercrime teams believe the suspect may be a Tamil-speaking individual operating from Sri Lanka. His Telegram communications are largely in Tamil, with occasional Telugu and English, and almost no use of Hindi. Digital trail analysis, including cryptocurrency transactions, has repeatedly pointed towards Sri Lanka. At one point, his location briefly appeared to be Pakistan, though investigators attribute that to the use of VPNs and proxy servers.

Much like earlier piracy kingpin Ravi Emandi of iBomma, Naveen is believed to be generating substantial revenue by redirecting users from piracy sites to online betting and gambling platforms. His true identity, however, remains unknown.

A game of digital whack-a-mole

Blocking piracy websites has become an exhausting chase. A TFCC representative revealed that domain names are changed almost weekly. For instance, 5movierulz is currently operating on extensions such as .doctor, with mirror sites like 7movierulz (dot) cl, while 1tamilmv is now active on .lc.

This constant shifting makes accurate traffic measurement difficult, but even conservative estimates are alarming.

Numbers that worry the industry

In just the first 10 days of January, 5movierulz reportedly attracted around 18 lakh visitors through search engines, nearly 80 per cent of them from India. Meanwhile, 1tamilmv.lc drew close to 23 lakh visitors during the same period, with a staggering 94 per cent of traffic originating from India.

“That’s a huge number of moviegoers,” a TFCC official remarked, underscoring the scale of the challenge.

Senior police officers say piracy networks are now under continuous surveillance, aided by real-time inputs from the film industry. After successfully dismantling operations linked to iBomma and 1Tamilblasters, officials remain confident that Naveen, too, will eventually be traced and brought to justice.