Shuddhi to Shivaay: Films once shelved are back on track

While Karan Johar’s Shuddhi finally comes on board with its new cast — actors Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, there are many other films — Kareena Kapoor Khan-Emraan Hashmi starrer Badtameez Dil, Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay and Sunny Deol’s Ghayal Once Again — that were shelved sometime ago but are now a work-in-progress again.“Earlier, filmmakers used to announce their projects but the films would never get made and they would just lose a couple of lakhs. But now, the stakes are very high and the artists take big bucks once they sign the film,” says trade analyst Atul Mohan.A joint production by Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar, Badtameez Dil had been shelved after many roadblocks, but it was recently announced that the film is back on track. “This script is perfect. I’d call it a love-hate story,” KJo told the media.

Ghayal Once Again had been put on hold due to a change of directors, budget and script issues. “It was believed that Sunny had differences with the directors and decided to direct it on his own,” says Mohan. Now, actor Soha Ali Khan, who plays the lead in the film, has started shooting for it.

Actor-turned-producer Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay, meanwhile, was shelved due to a very high budget. “After the debacle of Action Jackson (2014), the production house told Devgn to reconsider the budget. It was then brought down from `120 crore to `80 crore, and is now back on track,” says Mohan.

As for Shuddhi, there were several changes in the cast and finally, Salman Khan announced that Varun and Alia are in the lead.

However, film distributor Anil Thadani says, “Reports about films getting delayed don’t really affect how viewers look at these films. They only get to know when the promotions start.”

Meanwhile Raju Hirani’s biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt starring Ranbir Kapoor, which was reportedly shelved, has now been fast-tracked with Deepika playing the female lead.Read:Sanjay Dutt to play the baddie in Shuddhi?