Has Shoojit Sircar forgotten his smaller films?

After the success of 'Piku', filmmaker Shoojit Sircar is said to be toying with a few ideas for his next. However, he seems to have forgotten about three small films which have long been awaiting release

After the success of 'Piku', filmmaker Shoojit Sircar is said to be toying with a few ideas for his next. However, he seems to have forgotten about three small films which have long been awaiting release. Sources in the know attribute the inordinate delay to the makers' indifference.

Amit Sadh, Shoojit Sircar and Taapsee Pannu

"One of the projects titled 'Running Shaadi.com' was supposed to hit theatres in June 2014, but the makers had no intention of releasing it under their banner. Shoojit's production partner, Vikram Malhotra was trying to sell the film, but his asking price was so high, no distributor wanted to buy it. Gradually, Vikram got busy with Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Baby' and Shoojit devoted himself to 'Piku'. Now, they are both relatively free but are taking no initiative to pull the three films out of cold storage,” says a source associated with 'Running Shaadi.com'. The film’s shoot wrapped up in 2013 and the edit was locked by March 2014. The filmfeatures Amit Sadh and Taapsee Pannu.

The other two films that are apparently also being neglected are 'Satra Ko Shaadi Hai' and 'Banana'. "The cast and crew are upset with Shoojit and Vikram. A few people had shown interest in buying the films, but the producers haven’t responded," says another source.

Vikram explains 'Running Shaadi.com' is on hold for the want of a solo release window. "It was slated to hit theatres in April 2015, but we jointly deferred it for two reasons. One, Amit's film, 'Guddu Rangeela' was set to be out around the same time. Two, we didn't want to compete with big films. So, now, it has been pushed to early next year. Any film can be ready at any point, but choosing a release date is the producer's call. The rest is speculation. Shoojit and I are equally responsible for releasing it and there’s no question of anyone else buying or taking over the project," he says.

Ronnie Lahiri from Shoojit's production company, Rising Sun Films, echoes Vikram's sentiment and says releasing small films alongside bigger names would have been "a clear case of suicide". "We were looking at the beginning of 2015, but changed our mind due to 'Guddu Rangeela'. There is no point releasing a hero's films back to back unless he is Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan," adds Lahiri.

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