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If It's My Life, the remake of the Telugu hit Bommarillu, had came out in 2007 as originally planned, who knows - it could have been a career-changing turn for its lead actor, Harman Baweja. Produced by Sanjay Kapoor and directed by Anees Bazmee, the movie had Baweja step into Siddharth's shoes from the original and romance Genelia Deshmukh, who was also the leading lady in the original. Bommarillu, thanks to its entertaining content, was a big hit and its remakes in other languages also worked. So It's My Life could have been a lucky charm for Harman, who never saw a hit in his short career as an actor after making his debut with Love Story 2050. It’s My Life Trailer: Nana Patekar Becomes the Thorn in Harman Baweja & Genelia D’Souza’s Love Story in This Bommarillu Remake.
Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. Stuck for 13 years, It's My Life is now releasing straight on Zee Cinema. By now, Harman Baweja has taken a self-imposed retirement from acting. Genelia D'Souza is married, and Nana Patekar, who plays Harman's father in the film, has also taken a break from acting following the #MeToo allegations against him. Why, Kapil Sharma, who had a small role in the film, is now one of the biggest deal-breakers in the industry.
Like It's My Life, even Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Ghoomketu was also delayed for a few years before it made its way to an OTT platform (Zee5) during lockdown. These are a couple of the lucky ones that finally get to reach the audiences, even though the small screen release was never the initial plan. There are quite a few other movies that are still struggling to see a release, either on big screen or small. Most of them have been completed but are still languishing in the cans. Some of them even have big names in the cast. In this special feature, we will look at 15 such delayed films that deserve a TV or OTT release.
Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai
Govinda was stepping into the shoes of the great Joe Pesci for the remake of the highly enjoyable Hollywood film, My Cousin Vinny. And that's the very reason why Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai got stuck, as the producers of the original film, 20th Century Fox, got whiff of this project and pulled the makers of BYBH to courts. Last heard, there was an out of court settlement, but since then its director Ravi Chopra passed away, and Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai never made it to theatres. The film also starred Tabu, Lara Dutta and Boman Irani.
Har Pal
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara fame Jahnu Barua directed this love story, that would have starred Preity Zinta, Shiney Ahuja and Dharmendra. We are not sure how much he had completed the film, but the rape allegations against Ahuja put a spanner in its progress, and eventually got the film stuck.
Kill the Rapist?
A thriller directed by Sanjay Chhel of Khoobsoorat fame, Kill The Rapist? starred Anjali Patil in the lead, and abided itself to the #MeToo movement. The makers even released a trailer of the film, but since then there has been no news of when the final product was to come out.
Koochie Koochie Hota Hai
Tarun Mansukhani is one unlucky director. After delivering a hit in Dostana in 2008, the director has been trying to make a sequel for the film for long. In between, he made an animated version of Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, featuring animals voiced by the original KKHH trio, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji, along with Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Anupam Kher and Uday Chopra. Even though a trailer was released, Koochie Koochie... never made it to theatres. Mansukhani also lost the sequel to Dostana to another director, while his second film Drive went straight for OTT release.
Ladies Only
Ladies Only was a remake of Tamil film Magalir Mattum, which itself was a remake of a Hollywood film 9 to 5. The movie was about three female colleagues who had to deal with a lecherous boss. Starring Randhir Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shilpa Shirodkar and Heera Rajagopal in the lead, the film was also supposed to have Kamal Haasan playing a corpse. Although it was made in the '90s, Ladies Only never got any distributors and remained unreleased. Interestingly another film with the same subject - Hello Darling - came out in theatres in 2010 to poor reviews and reception.
Naam
A thriller directed by It's My Life director Anees Bazmee, Naam reunited him with his Deewangee actor Ajay Devgn. Bhumika Chawala and Sameera Reddy, the movie was earlier called Benaam and had Devgn play an amnesiac man trying to piece his lost life together. The movie never saw the light of the day, though a trailer made its way to the internet. Thursday Throwback: When Ajay Devgn Played an Amnesiac Action Hero in Anees Bazmee’s Unreleased Thriller ‘Naam’ – Watch Leaked Trailer.
Pranaam Walekum
Pranaam Walekum was supposed to be the directorial debut of actor Sanjay Mishra, who was also to play the lead in the film. The late Irrfan Khan was to have a cameo in the movie, that also starred Giselli Monteiro, Shilpa Shukla and Vindu Dara Singh. Although the movie was in production in 2015, there has been no news of it since then.
Tadka
A remake of the Malayalam film Salt N Pepper, Tadka starred Nana Patekar, Taapsee Pannu, Ali Fazal and Shriya Saran. The film was to be directed by actor Prakash Raj who had also directed and acted in the Tamil remake of the same movie. While the film is completed, Tadka hasn't made it to the screens, though Taapsee's recent resurgence in popularity had created some fresh murmurs abouts its release.
Death of Amar
Death of Amar, earlier titled as Amar Must Die, starred Rajeev Khandelwal, Zareen Khan and Prashant Narayanan, and was produced by Remo D'Souza and was a mystery thriller. The movie, which was made in 2014, had its world premiere on 16 August 2014 as official selection at 22nd San Francisco Global Movie Fest and won the Audience Choice Award. But DoA never made it to the Indian shores after this honour.
Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has quite a few films still stuck in the cans. Prominent among those is this offbeat venture, that reunited him with his Miss Lovely co-star (and ex) Niharika Singh, along with Ananya Chatterjee and Pankaj Tripathi. Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa has its world premiere at 2013 BFI London Film Festival. Although it got good reviews, the film's Indian release has been stuck.
Libaas
Heard the beautiful song, "Sili Hawa Choo Gayi"? Considered as one of the best compositions involving Lata Mangeshkar and the late RD Burman, the song belongs to Libaas, a film that Gulzar made in 1988, starring Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Raj Babbar. For reasons best known to its producer, Libaas, that dealt, with adultery, never found a theatrical release in India. Libaas had been screened in the international circuit, but in India, it had only two public screenings - one in 1992 and the other in 2014. Time to now release the film on some OTT platform like Netflix.
Shoebite
Directed by Shoojit Sircar, Shoebite, earlier titled as Johnny Walker, was based on a story called Labour Of Love by The Sixth Sense fame Hollywood filmmaker M Night Shyamalan. Starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, the stills of the actor in an old, vagabond getup went viral when the shoot was going on in 2012-13. However, thanks to a legal battle over the rights between studios Percept Pictures and UTV, Shoebite has been stuck in the cans for years now. Amitabh Bachchan has been time and again, requesting the studios to release the film at least on an online platform but to no avail. Shoebite also stars Sarika, Jimmy Shergill and Dia Mirza.
Paanch
Paanch is most peculiar case in this list, since the film is already out on YouTube, but in a leaked copy version. Anurag Kashyap and his love-hate relationship with the Censor Board is famous by now, which actually began with his first directorial, Paanch. In the ensuing battle of egoes, Paanch never managed to make it to the theatres, and instead, a leaked copy of the film made it to YouTube and torrent sites. Now it is time for Kashyap to set aside his ire against the injustice meted out to his film, and release Paanch in all its dark glory on an OTT platform soon.
Peter Gaya Kaam Se
Thanks to the surprise success of his debut film Aamir and an acclaimed act in Shaitan, television star Rajeev Khandelwal began his Bollywood innings on a hot streak (before it tapered out). Among the films that he signed in the initial phase was this crime chase-thriller, Peter Gaya Kaam Se. Directed by John Owen, the movie pairs Rajeev with Lekha Washington, and also stars Saurabh Shukla, Vijay Raaz, Vijay Maurya, Amit Sial and Prashant Narayanan. The movie, shot entirely in Goa, was completed in before the beginning of the last decade, but Disney India didn't get to release it over the financial losses incurred after a few biggies of theirs flopped. Peter Gaya Kaam Se's release got further stuck after it was acquisitioned by UTV FIlms. The British filmmaker Own did screen the film a couple of times in London, under the name The Goa Run. A leaked trailer was available online that poked fun at its producers, calling the film as something 'Disney Don't Want You To See'.
Peddlers
No film received as much support for an OTT release recently, as much as Vasan Bala's Peddlers. Peddlers was a crime drama based in Mumbai about how young boys are embroiled in drug trade, with Gulshan Devaiah, the late Nishikant Kamat, Kriti Malhotra, Nimrat Kaur and Siddharth Menon being part of the cast. After getting screened in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the movie failed to find a theatrical slot in India. Recently the director Vasan Bala and producer Guneet Monga were joined by other luminaries like Anurag Kashyap, Vijay Varma and Aseem Chhabra on Twitter, in requesting Eros to release the film atleast on their own platform, Eros Now. Whether the studio will comply or not, only time will tell!
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 05, 2020 04:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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