In what was a victory call for all the DC fans out there and relief for its director, Warner Bros had agreed to release the Snyder Cut of Justice League. Zack Snyder, the director credited for the mess that the film turned out to be, was reportedly fired from the production after the film was shot, as the studio exectives were not happy with his version. They hired Joss Whedon to reshoot many portions of the film, and making it more 'friendly'. Well, you know what happened next. Justice League Snyder Cut: 5 Superhero Movies With Superior Director’s Cut Versions That Give Us Confidence in DC’s Upcoming Experiment.

Snyder has always maintained that his cut of Justice League was way different than what we got. DC fans believe that his cut could be better because, at least, there would be a consistency in tone. They began to trend #ReleaseSnyderCut for months, and even the stars of the film encouraged the trend. They have history also in their support - how the Richard Donner Cut of Superman II proved to be vastly superior than the original. Or even Snyder's own Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice improved in clarity and consistency in its Ultimate Edition that was revealed during the DVD release.

Now Warner Bros has confirmed that Snyder Cut would head straight to HBO Max for an OTT release, with the director now busy in giving the finishing touches. This move was cheered by the fans, who now turned their sights to another messed up production, David Ayer's Suicide Squad. There is still no word, if the studio would acquiesce to this new demand, so let's wait and watch.

Meanwhile the trend gave us an opportunity to look at Bollywood itself and see if there are any films in Hindi Cinema that deserves a Director's Cut. One big problem we faced that unlike Bollywood, most of our filmmakers do not come out and confess the challenges they face in terms of studio interference, for the fear of losing future work. But we have had heard rumours of how their lead stars interfere in the shoot and editing, changing the vision of what the director want in the first place.

So while we did look at the rare cases when disappointed director spoke out, we have also looked at films whose deleted scenes bring out a different flair to the movie if they weren't cut. Or when filmmakers talked about cutting some very interesting scenes for runtime or it wasn't feasible to shoot. So with all these criteria, here are 11 films whose Director's Cut deserve a hashtag of their own!

Sholay

There is nothing wrong with what is perceived to be the greatest Hindi Cinema of all time. Even though the 1975 blockbuster, starring Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan, is already more than three hours long, there are still scenes and songs from Sholay that have been cut from the film. Like the murder of Sachin Pilgaonkar's character is implied in the film, but there is a deleted scene which shows his killing. Or there is a qawwali track that is left out, and we are curious to know where it will be played in this long but entertaining saga.

But the biggest reason I am rooting for an Extended Cut of Sholay is for the climax. There was an alternative climax which shows Thakur (Sanjeev Kumar) killing Gabbar Singh, instead of letting the law take him. This makes for a more poetic ending, since Gabbar has already escaped from jail once. Who is going to stop him from doing that again? We want #JusticeforJai. Amitabh Bachchan Shares Amazing Trivia About the Sholay Premiere Along With a Beautiful Black and White Picture Featuring Jaya Bachchan and His Parents (View Post).

Chak De India

Shah Rukh Khan's hockey drama is already great in its present state, but there is an interesting track that the director Shimit Amin had left out of the film. That track belongs to Gul. Gul who? Gul Iqbal (Arya Menon) is the meek girl who, during the induction scene, is shown coming from a family of hockey players. We see her mother telling her to live upto the family's name. After that scene, there isn't much focus on her character.

Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De India

However, deleted scenes from the film show her track was given as importance as Bindiya, Balbir, Vidya and Komal's. Gul was seen struggling during the matches, with the pressure of making her family proud acting against her skills.

Thanks to her coach Kabir Khan's advice, she overcomes her fears and does well in a match, that is also cut from the film. While we understand that this track has been cut for pacing issues, who is stopping YRF from releasing an extended cut on OTT for the fans to enjoy from their homes?

Delhi-6

Delhi-6 was Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's flawed attempt to create masterpiece, after the hit Rang De Basanti. While it had a fine roster of actors, the movie was let down by a disjointed narrative and that it went a bit too offbeat for people's liking. Not to mention, Abhishek Bachchan proved to be a weak lead, equipped with a fake American accent.

Sonam Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan in Delhi-6

Mehra, however, always maintained that the version shown in theatres was not what he wanted. He wasn't happy with the 'happy ending' that the film resorted, implying studio pressure. He claims there is another version that is bleaker, where Bachchan's character actually dies (instead of returning back from the dead in the theatrical version). This version, in his opinion, fits his vision, and he had shown it in certain festivals where he got a more positive response. So we are also curious to know if a bleak ending can actually change our opinion of a film that had plenty of other issues.

Manikarnika

Now who can forget this controversy right? Kangana Ranaut's historical war drama ran into a spate of controversies after the original director Krish was removed, because the producers and the actress were not happy with her version. Kangana herself took the responsibility of overlooking the reshoots. The country's new real-life hero, Sonu Sood, walked out of the film, and he was replaced by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. The end-product was an underwhelming film that suffers from tonal inconsistencies and is only saved by Kangana's strong performance.

Kangana Ranaut in Manikarnika

From what we read, the version directed by Krish, before it got reshot, put more focus on the supporting characters, which wasn't the case in the version we saw. Like, some of the characters like Atul Kulkarni's Tatya Tope and Nihar Pandya's Rao Saheb Peshwa had bigger roles. Sonu Sood's Sadashiv had a more complex arc, rather than being a straight antagonist as what Ayyub did with the character. Look, maybe Krish's version might have been a mess, but since Kangana's repair work wasn't that great either, we are curious to see what he wanted to show us. Kangana Ranaut Vs Krish: 5 Shocking Revelations Made by Manikarnika Director Against the Lead Actress!

Taare Zameen Par

Everyone knows that this wonderful, emotional social drama was Aamir Khan's directorial debut. That wasn't always the plan, though. While Aamir was already on board as both producer and actor, TZP was supposed to be directed by Amole Gupte, who later made Stanley Ka Dabba and Hawaa Hawaaii.

Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary in Taare Zameen Par

Aamir was always accused of ghost-directing his films, so what prompted him to officially take up direction from Gupte? According to a 2008 interview given to HT, Gupte claimed that he had directed the first edit which he claims was really good, and that the film that we saw was mostly his take. He said, "What I shot and what you saw aren't different at all. My narration is the same as the married print. Of course, Aamir was there with me throughout." He claims that Aamir did six days of reshoot and that gave him the onus to take the director's mantle.

We are intrigued to see if Gupte's first edit makes the theatrical version better, though pretty sure, Aamir would never be in a mood to comply to our wish to see this alternate version.

Andaz Apna Apna

From one good Aamir film to another classic one. Andaz Apna Apna is considered as one of the funniest films in Indian cinema. But it had seen a messy production, where it took three years to get complete and the lead actors reportedly weren't on talking terms with each other. The fact that, save for Salman's changing hairline, the movie doesn't show scars of the troubled production is an achievement in itself, though the film flopped at the box office.

Aamir and Salman Khan in Andaz Apna Apna

In a recent interview to Rajeev Masand to celebrate the 25th anniversary, director Rajkumar Santoshi revealed some very anecotes about the making of this classic. He mentions how several plot ideas were cut from the movie. The most important being on Crime Master Gogo's (Shakti Kapoor) claim of being Mogambo ka bhateeja. Santoshi reveals that the movie was supposed to have another antagonist in the dead Mogambo's perpetually sad twin brother Zorambo, to be played by Amrish Puri. And yeah, he was also supposed to be a dwarf! There was also a song that was cut from the film like "Shola Shola Tu Bhadke", and seeing how the rest of the picturised songs were so good, we are pretty sure this would have been awesome.

Like Chak De India and Sholay, AAA is a fantastic film in its present version, but a little more humour won't hurt right? Unfortunately, the scenes I mentioned above were all on conceptual basis and were never picturised, so a Director's Cut isn't possible with Zorambo. Other scenes, maybe! 25 Years of Andaz Apna Apna: From Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan, 9 Popular Celebs Who Were Name-Dropped or Made Cameos in the Aamir Khan, Salman Khan Starrer.

Fiza

Hrithik Roshan's second film as the lead came with much fanfare to theatres and had record opening day collections, thanks to the Kaho Na Pyaar Hai mania. However, the euphoria soon fizzled out as the audience found it to be an average, overlong drama. Fiza was the directorial debut of critic and author, Khalid Mohammed. You can see there was a masterpiece hidden in the disjointed mess that he made. It's because the version Mohammed originally intended to bring out could have been much better and contained than what we got.

Hrithik Roshan and Karishma Kapoor in Fiza

Fiza was reportedly to be more artistic with Karishma's titular character and her search for her younger brother who got lost in riots getting more spotlight. Hrithik Roshan, presumably, had a smaller role in the film. However, thanks to KNPH's success, the director made the film more commercial, added a discotheque song featuring Karishma and expanded Hrithik's role to match fans' expectations. There are also reports that cameos of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan had been shot, but they were discarded because of the length. Don't know why, but we are pretty confident that Khalid Mohammed's original version would have been a much better movie than what we got!

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

Though Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the leads in Karan Johar's directorial, most of the hype was on Fawad Khan. The Pakistani star was really very popular in India, and his fantastic performance in Kapoor & Sons brought him a lot of acclaim. Then the Uri attack happened, and there was an outrage over Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood. Karan Johar had to post a video saying he will never work with Pakistani artistes in future. And reportedly, he also reduced Fawad Khan's role in the film.

Fawad Khan in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil

In the version we saw, Khan was the fiance and later, husband to Anushka Sharma's character. His character had no proper defining arc and comes across as somewhat unlikable, because we see him through Ranbir Kapoor's character's eyes. So was there a more expansive role for the actor? Would it have improved ADHM from what it is right now - a pretty flawed romantic drama? Who knows, until we get to see what KJo originally intended to make.

Motichoor Chaknachoor

Now the inclusion of this film might baffle you, for it is the least prolific of all the films here. Motichoor Chaknachoor is a family entertainer, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Athiya Shetty that you will find to be a decent watch if you are checking it on Netflix, where it is streaming right now. Motichoor Chaknachoor Delayed? Nawazuddin Siddiqui-Athiya Shetty's Film Faces Trouble After Directo's Fall Out With Producer Rajesh Bhatia.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Athiya Shetty in Motichoor Chaknachoor

Before the release of the film, though, its director Debamitra Biswal had disowned after her fight with the producers over payment issues. She claims that she was kept away from the film;s editing and wanted her name to be removed from the film as a director. In an Facebook post, Debamitra revealed that the version we saw isn't what she made, and apologised to her friends that they will never get to see the version which they liked during its first cut. Was it really that good? Should we start the #ReleaseBiswalCut as a precedent for producers to respect the director's vision?

Zero

Aanand L Rai's Zero, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif, is a curious case. The film made on a hunongous budget underperformed at the box office, leading to both SRK and Anushka taking a sabbatical from acting. Many found the romantic drama to be underwhelming and lacking the nuances we have seen loved in Rai's previous films like Raanjhanaa and Tanu Weds Manu films.

Katrina Kaif and Shah Rukh Khan in Zero

Interestingly, when the movie came out on Netflix, it had gone through a little editing that feature a different opening sequence. Those who have seen both the version claim that the one on Netflix is slightly better. But that's what we are trying to point out. The Zero we saw both in theatres and Netflix is vastly different from what was told to the actors. Katrina Kaif herself revealed this in an interview, where she said the movie was supposed to be called Katrina Meri Jaan. Which means her character would have had a far bigger role, than being absent in the second half. She said, "Yes, it was a different film altogether when it was first offered to me. It went through a lot of changes in the last two years. The movie that you will see now is completely fresh, which is why it’s not titled Katrina Meri Jaan, although the initial plan was to call it that." Considering that Katrina Kaif was the best part of the film, this draft looks more delectable!

So was Rai's initial draft something that fit well into his kind of cinema? Did this version ever got shot and a copy of that is presently hidden somewhere in Mannat? We may never know!

Jagga Jasoos

Jagga Jasoos is an underrated film that deserved more love, for how ambitious and experimental this musical adventure comedy was. The film, which was Ranbir Kapoor's debut production and was directed by Anurag Basu, had seen troubled production that lasted a couple of years. By that time, the lead couple of Kapoor and Katrina Kaif had split up in real life, and the movie was rushed into theatres, turning it into a flop.

However, the biggest controversy was raked by actor Govinda, who was angry with Ranbir and Anurag, for chopping his track completely.

Katrina Kaif, Govinda and Ranbir Kapoor in a deleted scene from Jagga Jasoos

There were reports that he was replaced by Bengali actor Saswata Chatterjee, there are other reports that his was a different character altogether. Anyway, Ranbir apologised to the actor, saying that they had started off without a script and things changed as they proceeded with the shoot. He said, "Unfortunately the entire track has been chopped off; it is our fault, Basu and mine. We had started this film very prematurely, without a complete script. The character had completely changed, and the film was taking so long. It is very irresponsible, and very unfair to cast a great legend like Govinda and not give justice to his role. It is very unfortunate the way things panned out."

So does this version featuring Govinda's track would have made Jagga Jasoos a different film altogether? Curiosity is killing our cat!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 09, 2020 10:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).