Johnny Come Lately

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From Milenge Milenge to Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, films that have been in the can for up to two years are getting ready for release. Filmmakers worry about outdated looks and storiesDressed in a flaming red dress, a blond Kareena Kapoor embraces a rather pink-lipped, boyish Shahid Kapoor as Himesh Reshammiya croons in the background. The lead pair of Satish Kaushik's Milenge Milenge, which was stuck in the post-production stage after the actors broke up in real life, are a far cry from their current, uber-glamourous avatars. The movie, which will hit theatres in July after a two-year delay, carries a rather dated look even in promos. Outdated styles and stories are what worry filmmakers as their movies come out of the cans after a long time.Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra's Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, which was completed nearly a year ago, may be released in August. But a pirated copy of the film, starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Soha Ali Khan, is already available online. "What can one do if a film has travelled through so many hands? Piracy is inevitable," laments Mishra. He blames the recession for the delay in releasing the film. "The financiers backed out and then the production house chose to release its big-budget films. I have to endure the wait because my film doesn't have big stars," he says.Even the presence of stars doesn't assure a timely release. John Abraham's Aashayein with Nagesh Kukunoor and Hook Ya Crook with David Dhawan have been in cold storage. Industry buzz has it that Hook Ya Crook's producer UTV is reworking portions of the film, and Aashayein, stuck for a year without a distributor, will be released by Reliance Big Pictures in August. Even as Kukunoor remains anxious, the producer Percept Motion Pictures is unperturbed. "We sold the finished product to Reliance months ago. It is stuck in their pipeline now," says Abhishek Nayyar, head of marketing at Percept Motion Pictures.Niyati Shah, producer of Mumbai Cutting — a collection of 11 short films by reputed filmmakers like Ketan Mehta and Rahul Dholakia — that has been delayed, says, "At times a film reflects the current happenings in a society, which may become outdated if the release is postponed." The distributors Sahara One Motion Pictures will release the film in July, nine months after completion. "The cast, crew and the unique format had created a media buzz, which has died down. I have no expectations from the film," says Shah, "What is worse is that many careers hinged on it, like music director Jeet Ganguly's who was making his debut after parting ways with Pritam. Now those dreams are shattered."There are also times when a delayed release can damage a career. Mahie Gill's Pal Pal Dil Ke Saath followed her successful Dev.D. Pal Pal..., which that was released during the producers' strike last year, looked dated and could not recover even 10 per cent of investments. Gill says, "The final product was different from the script I was offered. I don't know how the makers completed the film and when they decided to release it."Boney Kapoor, who has produced Milenge Milenge, says despite the delay, one still releases a movie because of the sheer love for the project and "one might as well recover whatever money is possible". Mishra is hoping to see his film release in August but says its date should not clash with a big project's release. Marketing strategy too has to be reworked, says Kapoor. "Shahid and Kareena don't have the dates to promote Milenge Milenge. We have hence launched a campaign called 'Season for Forgiveness' and the marketing events will revolve around this." Better late than never.

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