Deadly Combination!Anuj Saxena

There's a spate of much delayed films releasing in the coming weeks. It would be interesting to see their fate at the box office especially at a time when we are in real need of good films

Filmmaking is a chaotic process and the completion of the project can never be predicted. Sometimes it takes years to get the film released while some lie in the cans for ever. The forthcoming weeks will see the theatrical release of such delayed films. The Sanjay Dutt–Saif Ali Khan starrer 'Nehle Pe Dehla', the Sunny Deol–Priyanka Chopra starrer 'Big Brother' (earlier titled 'Gandhi'), and the S. Raamanathan directed Amitabh Bachchan–Karisma Kapoor-Arshad Warsi starrer 'Zamaanat', are finally making it to the 'Sarhad Paar', 'Mehbooba', and Govinda starrers 'Mastana', 'Jahan Jaayega Hamen Paayega', 'Dil Lagake Dekho', Sameer Malkan's 'Lips', Jackie Shroff's 'Sandhya', Shaddab Khan's 'Highway 302', Tutu Sharma's 'Paanch', Shabnam Kapoor's 'Purab Ki Laila Pacchim ka Chaaila', and Anees Bazmee's 'Radheyshyam Seetaram' starring Sunil Shetty and Aishwarya Rai.
The reasons for the delay might range from finance to star dates or even lack of distributors. This unorganized sector has now come under the insurance umbrella with completion clauses and risk insurance. But generally a delayed film is considered a liability with stale films not getting a good initial at the box office, except for a 'Mughal-e-Azam' or a 'Pakeezah'. A film like Kamal Amrohi's 'Razia Sultan' was a major debacle. But sometimes a film like Anurag Kashyap's 'Black Friday' works. We spoke to a few trade experts on this theory.

Mahendra Dhariwal, producer of "Nehle Pe Dehla" says, "Whatever happens for the best as both my heroes have become superstars now which they weren't when I signed them. The collections will be definitely be boosted as it will help the film to get an initial. My Mumbai territory has been sold for 4 crores when earlier the asking ratio was around 2 crores." Anil Nagrath, Secretary IMPPA, Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association, observes that the audience is not concerned with the delay of the film as long as the story of the film is contemporary and not dull and boring. "But we are advising the producers to get completion guarantees and insurance against risks but sometimes the delay is inevitable." Taran Adarsh, trade analyst is of the opinion, "People feel that it does affect but there are notable exceptions like 'Mughal-e-Azam', 'Mother India', or 'Pakeezah' which took years to make but were successful at the box office. But then even a fresh film might not do well, like 'Salaam-e-Ishq'. What ultimately matters is the powerful story of the film." Indu Mirani, Editor, Box Office, says, "The delay definitely affects because people know it's a dated film and the audience always wants something new. With the world market opening up and with the changing times, a film shouldn't be jaded. The days of 'Mughal-e-Azam' and 'Pakeezah' were different because people didn't have anything else to do but see films." Lets hope the producers get the message and complete their films as scheduled!