Many film projects in 2014 fizzled out even before they could begin. We find out why...
Filmmaking is primarily divided into three stages: pre-production, production and post-production. At any given point of time, a film can get stuck in any of the three stages. And this is not peculiar only to Hindi film industry as cinema across the globe faces problems in one form or the other. Closer home, there were a number of films that were announced in 2014 but simply failed to go on floor. There are different reasons for different films with some witnessing actors walking out while others had creative issues and some were announced probably to catch a coveted release date. All in all, at least half a dozen big-ticket films simply couldn't take off this year as hitlist notes...

'Shuddhi'
Lowdown: Karan Malhotra's film starring Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor was slated to start by the end of this year.


Kareena Kapoor stepped out of Karan Malhotra's 'Shuddhi' long before rumours about Hrithik Roshan quitting the film started floating around

Though rumours of Bebo abandoning the the project started floating around but Hrithik's announcement of opting out of the project did come as a shock given the actor's track record. Producer Karan Johar did approach a number of actors to play the lead role in the film and finally zeroed in on Salman Khan.

As of today, the film will only go on floors in 2015 as both the director as well as the actor are busy with other projects. Karan has started shooting for Hindi adaptation of Hollywood Warrior titled 'Brothers' with Siddharth Malhotra and Akshay Kumar, while Salman is busy with Kabir Khan's and Sooraj Barjatya's film. KJo had earlier announced Shuddhi release for Christmas 2015 which was clashing with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani has now moved his release date to Diwali 2016.

'Paani'

Lowdown: One of Shekhar Kapur's most ambitious projects has still not taken off. The film was first slated to start in June which was probably the reason why Sushant Singh Rajput lost Abhishek Kapoor's 'Fitoor' to Aditya Roy Kapur. Around June, it was rumoured that the shooting will start in December as the film is likely to have an international cast but the last month of the year is here but is there is still no sign of the film. Interestingly, SSR has already started preparing himself to play Dhoni in a biopic. More interestingly, Kapur has announced his television directorial debut with Damien, which is the follow-up to classic horror film 'The Omen'. We hear the film might go on floor in June 2015.

'Raees'

Lowdown: Rahul Dholakia's Raees was to hit the sets in September itself this year. But that didn't go according to the plan due to unavoidable circumstances.

It will now start in February 2015. Initially, there were reports that 'Raees' was to go on floor but Shah Rukh Khan already started shooting for Yashraj Films' Fan. The actor who plays a bootlegger in the film was to have Farhan Akhtar playing the cop in the film but with the film's delay and dates clashing with the shooting of 'Rock On 2', the actor as well as the director opted out of the project. The leading actress is likely to be a new face.

'Singh is Bling'
Lowdown: An announcement was made in the media in July this year along with the release date of this film in July 2015.


'Singh is Bling', starring Akshay Kumar and Kriti Sanon was supposed to go on the floors in 2014

Time's passing and the forthcoming movie is yet to start working so the release date has been shifted to October 2015. To be directed by choreographer-turned-director Prabhu Dheva, the film stars Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon and Rajpal Yadav. Jayantilal Gada and Akki's home production Grazing Goat Pictures are the producers of the film. Prabhu Dheva has been shooting for 'Action Jackson' and then promoting the film while Mr Khiladi is currently shooting for Brothers.

'Milan Talkies'
Lowdown: There have been multiple announcements with regards to the casting of the film. It started with Priyanka Chopra and Imran Khan.


Imran Khan and Priyanka Chopra were the initial choices for 'Milan Talkies'

Then, Imran was out of the project because his dates were allegedly clashing with Vikramadity Motwane's Bhavesh Joshi. Shahid Kapoor stepped in but again there were issues with casting of the heroine for the film so he too is said to have stepped out. Now, we heard the announcement of Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor as the leading pair but that too is not certain as monies are still being discussed. Meanwhile, the director of the film, Tigmanshu Dhulia, is making another film - a multi-starrer friendship drama called 'Yaara'. The film is an official remake of the 2011 French film 'Les Lyonnais'.

'Bhavesh Joshi'
Lowdown: Imran Khan was all to set to play the main lead in this Vikramaditya Motwane film. After a string of successive failures, the actor was out of the project.

He was replaced by Siddharth Malhotra and started preparing for the project as the film is an action subject and the story is of a Gujarati boy with super powers. Wonder what happened, Siddharth is currently shooting for Karan Malhotra's 'Brothers' with Akshay Kumar which is Hindi adaptation of 'Warriors'. For the record, Motwane has a clean sheet with directorial ventures like Udaan and Lootera to his credit.

'Mohenjo Daro'
Lowdown: It's either big or nothing for Ashutosh Gowarikar. The director behind epics like 'Jodha Akbar' (2008), 'What's Your Raashee?' (2009) and 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey' (2010).


Pooja Hegde makes her debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Mohenjo Daro'

He hasn't directed a film since. So when he announced 'Mohenjo Daro' in May - after waiting for Hrithik Roshan to take up the lead role for nearly three years - it sounded like a comeback of sorts. The film was to go on floor in September but was then pushed to January 2015 due to Hrithik's shoulder injury.

The reason given was that the film is very demanding physically so they decided to go slow on it. As of now, the actor has just finished with the look test of the film and will be shooting most of the film in Bhuj in the coming year.

'Ghayal 2'

Lowdown: Sunny Deol's directorial venture sequel to 1991 superhit was to on floor in February 2014 but the film has yet to go on floor. The actor who is also directing the film is story based on father son relationship. There were reports Sunny casting teenagers in the film for which he auditioned from various colleges. We had heard that the film was to be shot in Manali now we hear the shooting will take place in Film City Studio.

Quote unquote
Amod Mehra, trade analyst
A number of times the actors commit and then back out of a project or give their dates to some other producer which lands the maker in trouble. So the poor producer is stuck with him or her or later is forced to find a replacement for the actor.

An industry insider
There are projects that are genuinely getting stuck because of variety of reasons. Dates of stars and their multiple commitments are the primary factors. High profile projects are more susceptible to this as dates are more sought after.