Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar has finally spoken out after reports surfaced about a major theft at the Mumbai office of Tiger Baby Films, the production house she co-founded with filmmaker Reema Kagti. The incident reportedly involved several hard drives containing important production material and internal company data. While the news initially sparked concern across the industry, Zoya has now confirmed that backup copies of the files are safe, preventing a larger crisis for the production company.
Speaking about the matter publicly, Zoya admitted that hard disks had indeed been stolen from the office and that police action was already underway. According to her, arrests have also been made in connection with the case. She described the situation as an “internal job,” expressing disappointment over how far people are willing to go for money. Thankfully for the company, duplicate backups of the missing data had already been maintained, which reportedly saved several projects from potential damage.
The case quickly became one of the more shocking behind-the-scenes incidents currently being discussed in Bollywood circles because the missing drives allegedly contained sensitive production-related material connected to the company’s ongoing work.
Staff Member Arrested After Missing Hard Drives Raise Suspicion
According to earlier reports, the complaint was filed after staff members at the Tiger Baby office realised several hard drives were missing during an internal check. The FIR was reportedly lodged by Mehjabeen Mushtaq Shaikh, an executive assistant associated with the company. Suspicion reportedly fell on an employee named Shahid Khan, who had been responsible for managing and storing the drives inside the office premises.
The issue apparently came to light on May 21 when colleagues requested access to some of the hard discs, but Khan allegedly failed to produce them. After an inspection, staff members reportedly discovered multiple drives had disappeared. During questioning, Khan allegedly confessed to stealing several hard drives over the past few months and later selling them in Mumbai’s Borivali area.
Reports claim the data stored inside the drives was estimated to be worth around ₹13 lakh. Investigators were reportedly told that the hard drives were sold for amounts ranging between ₹15,000 and ₹20,000 each. While earlier reports mentioned 24 stolen drives, the production house later informed police that nearly 119 hard drives were unaccounted for from the office inventory, making the scale of the incident even bigger than initially expected.
The situation has also reignited conversations in the entertainment industry around digital security and internal data handling, especially at a time when production houses store huge amounts of unreleased footage, scripts, edits, and confidential project material digitally.
Tiger Baby Films Has Become One Of Bollywood’s Most Recognised Banners
Zoya Akhtar launched Tiger Baby Films in 2015 alongside her long-time collaborator Reema Kagti. Over the years, the company built a strong reputation for producing both critically acclaimed and commercially successful projects. Their first major production success came with Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh, which later became one of the defining Bollywood films of its time.
The banner has since backed several notable projects including Dahaad, starring Sonakshi Sinha and Vijay Varma, along with the widely praised Superboys of Malegaon. Zoya herself last directed The Archies, which introduced new faces like Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda and Vedang Raina to the industry.
For now, police investigation into the robbery case is still continuing, but Zoya’s confirmation about backup copies has atleast eased fears of any major project losses inside the production company.
