Rituparno's The Last Lear has no takers
Producer Arindam Chaudhuri tells Hiren Kotwani why the release of Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear has been delayed.
The Last Lear has been on the international festival circuit for a while now but there are still no signs of a theatrical release. The buzz is that the Rituparno Ghosh-directed English language film for Planman Motion Picture Company, has no takers.
The few distributors for whom the film was screened have shied away. The none-too-flattering reviews haven't helped either.
The film's producer, Arindam Chaudhuri, however insists that audiences at Toronto, London, Rome, Dubai and Goa have given his film the thumbs up. Chaudhuri hopes to release the film in April, with TV promos staring in February .
Planman will also release Rajat Kapoor's Mithya and Saurabh Shukla's I am 24 this year..
Digital ke side-effects
What about Rituparno Ghosh's Sunglasses with Jaya Bachchan, Konkona Sen Sharma and R Madhavan? The film was wrapped up months ago.
"Sunglasses will come later this year after the three films. We need a gap of a month or two.. so the releases are well spaced out. Sunglasses has taken a while because of its extensive post-production. Its digital effects have taken time," explains Chaudhuri.
Chaudhuri believes that Ghosh's cinema targets a niche market. "With increasing multiplexes their numbers are growing," he states.
The trade gup is that Ghosh has overshot the budget, adding to Planman's woes.
"Given The Last Lear's star cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal - it's a reasonably budgeted film. A commercial film with the same actors would have cost so much more," he argues.
Get more updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, Music and Web Series along with Latest Entertainment News at Hindustan Times.