Gulzar's Libaas set to be released 29 years after completion

A great present for Gulzar, and his numerous admirers is in the offing. His unreleased film Libaas, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, is due to be released some time this year.

The film was completed in 1988 and was screened at film festivals, but due to its 'objectionable' subject of marriage and infidelity, the film never released theatrically. It has been stuck in the archives of the Directorate of Film Festivals for all these years.

Producer Amul Vikas Mohan announced on Twitter yesterday, 19 August, that he was joining hands with Zee Classic to bring the film to theatres later this year. He tweeted, "Papa's life long dream is finally coming true!" His father, Vikas Mohan, was the producer of the film when it was made almost three decades ago.

Libaas is a film adaptaion of  writer-filmmaker Gulzar's own short story, Seema, from his Raavi Paar collection. The film also stars Raj Babbar.

The film had a special screening at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on 22 November 2014, the same year that Gulzar was awarded with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Another bonus for film fans will be the film's music which was composed by the late RD Burman, a good friend of Gulzar. The soundtrack features four songs, written by Gulzar, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Suresh Wadkar and Burman himself.