In 2018, both Geetha Govindam and Taxiwaala had surfaced across digital platforms on the same day. The former leaked five days before its theatrical release, that is, on August 10.
The leak originated from an editor at a post-production studio in Hyderabad. Producer SKN learned about the leak and was speechless because of shock. He lost hopes on Taxiwaala, whose release was months away. The editor shared the films with his 'maradalu', a fan of Vijay. She, in turn, shared it with a friend. In no time, seventeen college students in a Guntur hostel were found to have downloaded the movie. Authorities tracked digital footprints and seized hard drives containing the unreleased movie footage.
Geetha Govindam went on to become a tremendous box office hit, thanks to its musical melodies and decent content. Taxiwaala was not expected to make it and Allu Aravind once even suggested the scrapping of the film altogether. The producer and the team strongly disliked the initial rough cut of the film. They felt the comedy was awkward, the suspense failed to work, and the background score was poor. Allu Aravind even told Vijay Deverakonda that the film was not working and that his career was at stake. However, it attained breakeven on Day 1 upon its release in November 2018.
