Marathi releases delayed in 2014

Looking back at 2014, it won’t be wrong to say that this has been an interesting year altogether for the Marathi industry. Bollywood collaborations, big budget films, out-of-the-box subjects, a string of National Awards and an opportunity to compete for the Oscars are just some of the highlights. In contrast, there were also many films that got delayed, some even multiple times. We bring you some such films that didn’t see the light of the day in 2014.

7 Roshan Villa
Initial release: October
Current situation: Not known
The thriller directed by Akshay Yashwant Dutt is an adaptation of veteran writer Shrinivas Bhanage’s winning suspense-thriller play Cottage No 54.The film was to release this year but has been delayed and difference of opinion between the producer and director is said to be the reason behind it. It has actors Tejaswini Pandit and Prasad Oak in lead roles.

Aadesh: Power of Law
Initial release: September 2013, November 2014
Current situation: Release postponed to April 24
The film directed by Svaddhan Angrre was to bring the story of lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to the silver screen in September 2013. Citing financial issues, the release was postponed and it hasn’t released yet. Angrre said, “Due to the subject, I realized that I should not limit the release only to Maharashtra. I am currently scouting other cities.”

Ek Tara
Initial release: December 2013
Current situation: Releasing on January 30, 2015
In the long list of delayed films Ek Tara emerges as the clear winner. The film, which is said to be inspired by Rockstar, was supposed to release in December 2013 but has not seen the light of the day as yet. “We have now fixed the release date on January 30, 2015,” informed Vishal Ghag, from the production house.

Rajwada
Initial release: April 11, August 8
Current situation: Not known
National Award winner 'Dhag'’s maker Shivaji Lotan Patil announced his next project, a light-hearted comedy titled Rajwada in January this year. But the project landed in a soup after a legal case was slapped against its producer. Patil informed, “Out of the total budget of `1.5 crore, the producer had only paid Rs 65 lakh. So we have filed a case.” Whether the project will release or not, is not known yet.

Saam Daam Dand Bhed
Slated to release on: August 10
Current situation: Tentative release date in January or May
Despite being ready for a release in January, producer-director Neelima Lonari’s film about farmers has not been able to see the light of the day. Her efforts of collaborating with a TV channel for the release have proved futile. She said, “With approximately `1.75 crore riding on the film, I don’t want to compromise. If things don’t improve, I will release it independently next year.”

Sambhaji 1689
Initial release: January 17, 2014
Current situation: Not known
This project of director Rakesh Dulgaj was made on a budget of almost `10-12 crores. The movie which highlights the life of Sambhaji Maharaj boasted of a powerful cast including Rajit Kapoor, Dalip Tahil, Mohan Joshi and Mrinal Kulkarni. Dulgaj had announced that the film would also have English, Tamil and Telugu versions but the film has not released yet.

Siddhant
Initial release: September/ October 2014
Current situation: To release in May 2015
According to producer, Nilesh Navlakha, Siddhant is an adaptation of the 2010 short film 'Kshan-Sparsh Mayecha' and was made over the last four years. The makers have now pushed the release date to May. When asked about the reason behind the delay, Nilesh said, “There are many films releasing this time around and so instead of clogging the dates, we pushed the release to May.”

Suryaa
Initial release: April 2014
Current situation: Not known
After directing Ajaz Khan in the Hindi film Ya Rab, director Hasnain Hyderabadwala was set to release his Marathi venture this year. Since then though, there has been no news about the project which was supposed to be actors Hemant Birje and Akhilendra Mishra’s Marathi debut. The film is a high on action one and boasts of having many known technicians from Bollywood working on it.

To Yeto
Initial release: Second half of 2014
Current situation: Not known
This was supposed to be Makrand Deshpande’s Marathi directorial debut and lead role. Unfortunately, the project kept getting delayed like another one of the production house’s films. Makrand went on to release his Saturday Sunday but the fate of To Yeto is still not known. “We haven’t yet finalised on the release date for To Yeto. As of now we are concentrating on Ek Tara,” said Vishal Ghag.