It seems the faraar (fugitive) in the title of Dibakar Banerjee’s Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar has proven to be prophetic. Almost two years after this Arjun Kapoor-Parineeti Chopra was completed, it remains unreleased with no hope of a release anywhere in the near future.
The latest blow for the seemingly doomed project is the Coronavirus which had sabotaged the film’s most recent release plan.
In fact, for all practical purposes, this crime caper has been shelved, though there is no official announcement to the effect. Lekin Pinky aur Sandeep faraar hain.
However, a source close to Yash Raj Films tells me the producers have no intention of releasing Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. “Why should they release a sure shot loser? Audiences invariably reject delayed projects. Look at what happened to Ramesh Sippy’s film. Before we could figure out whether the film was titled Shimla Mirch or Shimla Mirchi it was on Netflix.”
There is a growing feeling that the OTT platform has become a dumping ground for delayed/shelved projects. After Karan Johar dumped his execrable Drive and Viacom 18 slipped Shimla Mirch/Mirchi on Netflix we hear Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar may also go to the digital platform.
Director Dibakar Banerjee seems to have washed his hands off the Arjun-Parineeti starrer. He is now busy making a futuristic film called Freedom featuring Manisha Koirala and Naseeruddin Shah on Netflix.\
Freedom, at last.
