Kaante begs to defer, ek baar phir

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Hear, hear! <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> is up to doing what it does best, yet again — announce the date of release and then give it the royal ditch, all over again. Over the last six months, the release date of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> has become one big guessing game.<br />And while everyone was being assured that <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> would meet its December 6 deadline, the film has been pushed ahead by a week. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> is now set for a December 13 release unless of course the team decides to surprise the audience with a postponement once more.<br />Aakhir kyun? What is the reason for the film being delayed? Last time, when the release was shifted from October to December 6, Sanjay Gupta, the director and producer of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> had blamed it on the time of the year, Ramzaan, when Hindi movies are not released. Gupta also claimed that he would use this time to deal with the cumbersome issue of getting the film past the censors. Ironically, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> is yet to be submitted to the censor board. Cinema halls are crying foul for the movie that’s specialising in playing hide-and-seek with them. ‘‘It’s been an endless wait and it definitely harms the theatre,’’ says Saurabh Varma of Chanakya theatre, which is scheduled to play <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> but is not sure when. ‘‘In today’s times, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> is one of the rare films where one expects bulk and group bookings. Every week people call and one is in no position to confirm the date of release. This gives rise to all kinds of speculation which is bad both for the film as well as for the theatre,’’ he adds.<br />Going back in time, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> went on the floor last September and was supposed to hit the screens by April this year. Since then, a series of dates has been announced and then postponed. Gossip grapevines are buzzing with rumours of VCDs of the movie having hit the market and many are out to sabotage the film’s business by way of anti-<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span> SMS messages. Not too long ago, mobile inboxes were flooded with messages that revealed the suspense element of the film. To counter this and confuse the junta, the Gupta clan began sending out their own set of messages, each of which talked of a different suspense element.<br />For a multi-starrer which is otherwise in the pink of health, the ‘better late than ever’ syndrome continues to be a thorn in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaante</span>’s flesh.</div> </div>