After struggling with the Central Board of Film Certification, popularly known as the censor board, over cuts and facing losses owing to the delay, the makers of the investigative thriller Missing On A Weekend said it is finally releasing on 26 August, the last Friday of the month.
"We have finalized our release date, that is 26 August," director Abhishek Jawkar said. "We are still working on the cuts that were suggested to us, we might incorporate them in such a way that the narrative does not get disrupted."
The filmmaker said the option of approaching the revising committee of the CBFC remains open. "We are still brainstorming if we need to take that step," he said. "But we can't afford to delay the film too much as already the one-month delay has burnt a hole in my pockets."
Jawkar said it was important to announce the release at least two weeks in advance to allow for proper promotion and other marketing strategies.
The film was earlier slated to release on 1 July but got delayed after the CBFC suggested 51 cuts verbally but did not give a written list, owing to which the makers had to run around the board's offices and eventually send it a legal notice. After the notice, the makers received a written list and the cuts were brought down to five.
Missing On A Weekend stars Pavan Malhotra, Karan Hariharan and Dishank Arora, among others, and is presented by The Red Bulb Studios and Adept Films.