People in Bihar will have to wait some more to catch a glimpse of their colourful and controversial leader on the big screen as release of his debut film "Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav" has been put on hold in the state.

The movie directed by Mahesh Manjrekar has been deferred in the wake of the assembly elections next month.

Explains the film's much-harassed producer Manik Bedi, "Due to elections in Bihar the Election Commission and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting didn't permit us to release 'Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav' in Bihar and Jharkhand.

"We've complied with their wishes and will release the film in these areas after the elections."

The delay is bad news for Manjrekar and the cast of "Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav", a raunchy remake of the British comedy 'A Fish Called Wanda'.

The only place where the film had generated any curiosity was Bihar due to Lalu Prasad's two-minute appearance at the film's conclusion. In fact all the posters and hoardings of Bihar highlighted the controversial and colourful Bihari politician over the actors in the film.

With the film being delayed, Biharis will watch the film on pirated CDs that are available a day after the release of a new film.

In fact, another film lined up for release this week has got itself into a budge.

Anurag Kashyap's controversial "Black Friday" about the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai has been stayed by the Bombay High Court in the last minute, putting exhibitors all over the country in a tight spot.

Says Patna exhibitor Suman Sinha, "We got to hear about the court's decision on Thursday night when 'Black Friday' was supposed to open within hours. We were thrown into a tizzy. I had to re-run Suneel Darshan's 'Andaz'. Now my theatre is booked for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black' next week. So even if 'Black Friday' gets cleared for release next week I will be unable to screen it."

The postponement will cost "Black Friday" dearly in terms of availability of theatres. Since producers and distributors book theatres weeks and months in advance it seems unlikely that "Black Friday" would find a nation-wide release in the immediate future.

This gives the third release of the week, the Ajay Devgan-starrer "Blackmail", an unforeseen free run at the box office.