Each day or the other, we have hearing one rumour or the other about some biggie release now coming straight to an OTT platform. From Salman Khan's Radhe to Ranveer Singh's '83 to Akshay Kumar's Laxmmi Bomb, we have been hearing speculations as to how these movies could make it to an online platform straightaway, since imminent theatrical release isn't possible thanks to the lockdown. However, till there is an official announcement from the makers, such a thing is not happening. These movies are made for big-screen experience and is meant to go the same path only. Salman Khan's Radhe, Ranveer Singh's 83, Akshay Kumar's Laxmmi Bomb: Here's Why These Big-Budget Movies Won't Be Releasing On OTT Platforms Anytime Soon.

But this is an opportunity for the producers to release their completed but stuck-in-can-for years films straight to an OTT platform. Some of these films have been caught in various studio entanglements and are unfairly not given a theatrical slot. Normally, these films would have been lost if they even managed to find a theatrical release, just see what happened with Rajkummar Rao and Rakul Preet's long-delayed Shimla Mirch that found better audience when it premiered on Disney Plus Hotstar. Similar are the cases with Irrfan Khan's last release, Angrezi Medium, and Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 3, both films' theatrical run were unfortunately cut short by the COVID-19 outbreak.

So returning to these long-delayed films, it must be a pain for the filmmakers, the cast and the crew to see the result of their hard work, stuck in the cans for years. Many directors have been demanding studios to release these films online, but the studios have been maintaining a stony silence over the request.

Recently, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Ghoomketu, directed Pushpendra Nath Mishra, which has been delayed for years, is now seeing a release on Zee5. The movie also stars Anurag Kashyap, Ragini Khanna, Ila Arun and Raghubir Yadav, with cameos from Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Huma Qureshi, Nikkhil Advani and Richa Chadha.

Hoping to take a cue from Ghoomketu, here are five such films that have stuck in the cans for years, directors are requesting for their release and are perfect to be revealed on an OTT platform.

Libaas

Heard the beautiful song, "Sili Hawa Choo Gayi"? Considered as one of the best compositions involving Lata Mangeshkar and the late RD Burman, the song belongs to Libaas, a film that Gulzar made in 1988, starring Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Raj Babbar. For reasons best known to its producer, Libaas, that dealt, with adultery, never found a theatrical release in India. Libaas had been screened in the international circuit, but in India, it had only two public screenings - one in 1992 and the other in 2014.

Listen to the beautiful soundtrack of Libaas:

The movie had received critical acclaim in its screenings, with the viewers calling it as one of Gulzar's best works to date, and that's saying something from the man who gave us classics like Khamosh, Angoor, Kitaab, Aandhi, Lekin etc. In 2017, there was a news going on that it would get a theatrical release, but that didn't happen. Now is the right time to do so, through a platform like Netflix.

Shoebite

Amitabh Bachchan in Shoebite

Directed by Shoojit Sircar, Shoebite, earlier titled as Johnny Walker, was based on a story called Labour Of Love by The Sixth Sense fame Hollywood filmmaker M Night Shyamalan. Starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, the stills of the actor in an old, vagabond getup went viral when the shoot was going on in 2012-13. However, thanks to a legal battle over the rights between studios Percept Pictures and UTV, Shoebite has been stuck in the cans for years now. Amitabh Bachchan has been time and again, requesting the studios to release the film at least on an online platform but to no avail. Recently, even Ayushmann Khurrana called Shoebite the best work by Sircar, which again raised our expectations about the film. Shoebite also stars Sarika, Jimmy Shergill and Dia Mirza.

Paanch

Tejaswini Kolhapure and Kay Kay Menon in Paanch

Paanch is most peculiar case in this list, since the film is already out on YouTube, but in a leaked copy version. Anurag Kashyap and his love-hate relationship with the Censor Board is famous by now, which actually began with his first directorial, Paanch. Apparently, the Board was so shocked by the grim nature of the film -  about a band of misfits who engages in a crime to earn money - that it refused to give certificate. In the ensuing battle of egoes, Paanch never managed to make it to the theatres, and instead, a leaked copy of the film made it to YouTube and torrent sites.

Watch The Trailer of Paanch:

Those who have seen the film in its leaked version can claim that Bollywood has seen films darker than Paanch, and also that it is one of Kashyap's best works, with superlative performances from the cast. Now it is time for Kashyap to set aside his ire against the injustice meted out to his film, and release Paanch in all its dark glory on an OTT platform soon.

Peter Gaya Kaam Se

Lekha Washington and Rajeev Khandelwal in Peter Gaya Kaam Se

Thanks to the surprise success of his debut film Aamir and an acclaimed act in Shaitan, television star Rajeev Khandelwal began his Bollywood innings on a hot streak (before it tapered out). Among the films that he signed in the initial phase was this crime chase-thriller, Peter Gaya Kaam Se. Directed by John Owen, the movie pairs Rajeev with Lekha Washington, and also stars Saurabh Shukla, Vijay Raaz, Vijay Maurya, Amit Sial and Prashant Narayanan. The movie, shot entirely in Goa, was completed in before the beginning of the last decade, but Disney India didn't get to release it over the financial losses incurred after a few biggies of theirs flopped. Peter Gaya Kaam Se's release got further stuck after it was acquisitioned by UTV FIlms. The British filmmaker Own did screen the film a couple of times in London, under the name The Goa Run. A leaked trailer was available online that poked fun at its producers, calling the film as something 'Disney Don't Want You To See'.

Well, now that UTV has a stake in Disney Plus Hotstar, why not release the film on this platform? The trailer actually looks pretty intriguing.

Peddlers

Siddharth Menon in Peddlers

Recently, no film received as much support for an OTT release, as much as Vasan Bala's Peddlers. This was the first film made by the director, who recently enjoyed the limelight that followed the critical acclaim for his quirky action-comedy, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. Peddlers was a crime drama based in Mumbai about how young boys are embroiled in drug trade, with Gulshan Devaiah, Nishikant Kamat, Kriti Malhotra, Nimrat Kaur and Siddharth Menon being part of the cast. After getting screened in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the movie failed to find a theatrical slot in India.

Watch The Trailer of Peddlers here:

Recently the director Vasan Bala and producer Guneet Monga were joined by other luminaries like Anurag Kashyap, Vijay Varma and Aseem Chhabra on Twitter, in requesting Eros to release the film atleast on their own platform, Eros Now. Whether the studio will comply or not, only time will tell!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 08, 2020 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).