by Subhash K Jha

Pooja Bhatt's new production Holiday featuring Dino Morea and newcomer Onjali was scheduled for release this Friday along with Aparna Sen's 15 Park Avenue and Babloo Pachisia's Jawani Diwani.

It has now been yanked out suddenly. What happened? Is it because of the feeling that films released in the first month of a new year are doomed?

"Nothing of the sort," chuckles Dino. "The producer(Pooja Bhatt) just decided we needed to give time to the film to grow. There just wasn't enough buzz about the film."

The question is, how much of a buzz can there be for a film that seems to be take-off on Dirty Dancing and features Dino with the debutante doing Salsa, a dance form that would interest a very small section of the movie-going audience.?

Says Dino, "Holiday isn't only about dancing. It's essentially a love story between a dance instructor and his protégée.The guru-shishya theme is very hot after Black and Iqbal . Holiday is of course far more romantic in mood. That's why we decided to move the film forward to a Valentine release. Both Pooja and I feel Holiday is a very Valentinian film. We'll go into several tie-ups for the occasion and market the film as a seasonal special. Holiday is my most romantic film to date."

But the view about the film's postponement is different in other quarters. According to a dependable source, "Pooja pulled out because she couldn't afford another dud after Paap and Rog. Both these were released at the beginning of the year. She has been advised to go for February release. 2002- Feb the the super-hit Raaz at the boxoffice. In 2005 –Feb there was Black. She's hoping Holiday would be given a similar welcome."

But do postponements augur favourably at the boxofffice? The release of two of the surprise hits last year—Page 3 and Black--was repeatedly postponed.

Will Holiday ultimately do the trick?