Even as Salman Khan-starrer ‘Radhe’ reportedly crashed servers — remember it had a unique digital release on Thursday on the occasion of Eid — the 56-year-old star issued a warning to content pirates as news surfaced that the flick had been leaked online for free viewing.

Rajiv Bakshi, COO, Revenue, Zee Entertainment, posted on LinkedIn a poster of ‘Radhe’ with a message saying “Creating history. First day.  #zee5 #ZeePlex.” The image said: 4.2 million views*.

Now, it’s not clear whether the asterix denotes some terms and conditions attached to the number of 4.2 million views or not, but generally the film was definitely accessed on digital platforms — from streamer Zee5 to DTH platforms like Tata Sky and Dish TV — and panned too for its mindlessness.

Meanwhile, after “Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai” was leaked on piracy sites, the Bollywood superstar warned the miscreants of legal action by the cyber cell, a PTI report from Mumbai stated.

The action-drama had a multi-format release in select theatres and simultaneously on the streaming platform ZEE5 with ZEE’s pay per view service ZEEPlex and on DTH services at Rs 249 on May 13 on the festival of Eid.

However, the movie, directed by Prabhudeva, was uploaded online within hours of its release where it was downloaded for free viewing by millions.

Expressing his disappointment, Khan shared a note on his social media accounts late Saturday night and said watching a film on a pirated site was a “serious crime”.

“We offered you to watch our film ‘Radhe’ at a reasonable price of Rs. 249 per view. In spite of that, pirated sites are streaming Radhe illegally which is a serious crime,” he wrote.

The 55-year-old star informed that the Cyber Cell (of probably the Mumbai Police) was taking action against these illegal pirated sites and the ones using such platforms.

“Please don’t participate in piracy or the Cyber Cell will take action against you as well. Please understand you will get into a lot of trouble with the Cyber cell,” he cautioned.

Ahead of the release of the film, Khan had appealed to his fans and followers to shun piracy and watch “Radhe”on the right platform.

The actor had said it takes the hard work of several people to make a movie and it “hurts a lot when some take the route of piracy to watch the final product”.

“I want a commitment from all of you that you will enjoy films on the right platform. So this Eid we want a commitment from the audience – no piracy in entertainment,” he had said.

“Radhe”also features Disha Patani, Randeep Hooda, Jackie Shroff, and Gautam Gulati.

Globally billions of dollars are lost annually in pirated content.

Global Innovation Policy Center, an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, in a report on impact of online piracy on US economy said: “Using macroeconomic modeling of digital piracy, the (2019) study estimates that global online piracy costs the U.S. economy at least $29.2 billion in lost revenue each year.”