Before the release of filmmaker Shoojit Sircar’s upcoming film, October, talk turned to a shelved project of his, Shoebite, starring Amitabh Bachchan, which was filmed a decade ago.
Here's why Shoojit Sircar's film Shoebite with Amitabh Bachchan has not been released
Sircar gave Cinestaan.com an update on the film’s status stating, “The update is only that we have been pleading for the last few years. Our pleading will continue, the rest, the producers will have to come forward and do justice to it. They have asked us to do the film, we did the film, [now] they will have to do their part. That’s it. But it’s very disheartening to see a film lying after many years.”
Recalling his experiences on the project, Sircar said he was anxious about working with Bachchan, one of the legends of Hindi cinema. “It was my first film so I was very scared, because you’ve heard so much about him. It was my first film and it does not get released, just imagine,” he said.
But Sircar had nothing but praise for his star who he said absolutely committed to the role he was portraying. “[Bachchan was] excellent, extraordinary, absolutely. You can’t doubt his commitment. Once he agrees to do the film, he embodies it, body and mind, everything is into it,” he recalled.
Seven years after the stalling of Shoebite, Sircar got to direct Bachchan again in Piku (2015). The veteran actor picked up his fourth National Award as best actor for his role as the canktanrous old man, Bhashkor Banerjee, in the film. The next year, Bachchan starred in another Sircar production, Pink (2016) as retired lawyer Deepak Sehgal to great acclaim.
“Thankfully that I got those films. It was like a redemption, you know,” Sircar declared.