Piracy Row: Twitterati Slam UP CM Akhilesh Yadav for Watching 'Pirated' Version of 'PK'

Despite striking gold at the box office, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan's latest release "PK" has been in the eye of the storm ever since its release. In the latest controversy, Akhilesh Yadav, who recently made the film tax-free in Uttar Pradesh, has triggered a piracy row and come under attack from Twitterati for having downloaded the film.

Despite the controversies and protests by Saffron outfits citing hurt sentiments, Yadav had announced tax exemption for "PK" at his official residence on Wednesday, 31 December.

"People had been asking me to watch 'PK' for many days. I downloaded it a few days ago, but found time to watch it only last night. I liked it immediately and decided to make it tax-free so that more people can watch it," he had said, as reported by NDTV.

Soon after this comment, Twitter users started accusing Yadav of piracy.

Akhilesh Yadav "downloaded Pk movie?!"... Is this NOT PIRACY?! Thanks @tajinderbagga (Fb) pic.twitter.com/ncRMw1Un67

— ॐ Aspiring Yogi ॐ (@hgsutras) January 2, 2015

However, the CM's Office slammed the accusations against Yadav and tweeted that he has the license to download and watch the movie.

#UPCM #Akhileshyadav has licensed @UFOMoviez digifacility to download & watch movies. Controversy around pirated download is unwarranted-CMO

— CM Office, GoUP (@CMOfficeUP) January 2, 2015

Check the reactions of Twitter users below:

Arpit Jain

Giving laptop to students for better education and exposure to modern world & himself watching Pirated Movies.Disgusting #Akhileshyadav

R Rajeev Naik

#akhileshyadav by downloading movie has stayed true to his engineering roots

Venki

@atjtiwari #Akhileshyadav downloaded the movie - amused, funny and appreciated. Last I heard he made it tax-free in UP #HappensOnlyInIndia

Have to admire #Akhileshyadav once for being a true engineer 1st then a CM. Haven't lost much of hostel life bro! #PKdebate

Aay Jay

#akhileshYadav did a good thing or bad? First he watched #PK after downloading it (that's illegal) and later made it tax free in UP. Ahem!

JoyStick

Akhilesh Probably misunderstood "PK " to be Pirated kopy and hence..... #pk #Akhileshyadav

Meanwhile, following his footsteps, Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi too declared the Aamir and Anushka starrer 'tax-free' in the state on Thursday, on CM Nitish Kumar's advice.

The film has been creating box office records by collecting more than ₹285.56 crore and beating the records of Aamir's "Dhoom 3" within 15 days of its release.