Filmmakers, who had made last-minute scramble to book theaters this Friday in light of the 'Udta Punjab' censorship row, reconsider decision

The long-drawn-out battle for certification of Udta Punjab not only gave sleepless nights to its makers but also kept other filmmakers on their toes.

As reported by hitlist earlier, 'Shorgul' and 'Junooniyat' were slated to hit theatres next Friday, but were advanced by a week since the respective producers anticipated 'Udta Punjab' to miss its June 17 date with moviebuffs.

However, with the Bombay High Court paving the way for a timely release for 'Udta Punjab' (Read more), makers of those two films have now switched back to their original date - June 24.

Says a source, "They have reconsidered their decision since Udta Punjab will arrive in theatres on June 17; they don't want to compete with it at the box office, especially with such great buzz surrounding it. So, after the High Court ruled in favour of the movie, the other filmmakers went into a huddle with their own teams and conducted a series of meetings. Eventually, they decided it would be wise not to clash with Udta Punjab."

Swatantra Vijay Singh, producer of Shorgul, confirms the news and says, "Our film has a strong message and reinstates the bitter reality of today where the common man's voice is manipulated to favour socio-political motives. We don't want this message to be lost when an equally socially relevant film like Udta Punjab is releasing on June 17. Hence, we are rescheduling to June 24 as the audience needs time to relate and consume such heavy-on-content thinking films."

We tried to get in touch with the makers of Junooniyat, but they remained unavailable for comment. However, trade sources confirm that it has indeed been moved back to June 24.