MUMBAI: Happi, Pankaj Kapur’s first film as an actor since Halla Bol four years ago, has been pushed forward to August. Kapur wants his directorial debut to be released first.

Pankaj Kapur – the actor has right now taken a backseat. It’s Pankaj the director that’s getting top priority. And he has made it very clear to his producers that until the release of his directorial debut Mausam in July he won’t have any time for the promotion and marketing of Happi.

The fact that Happi and Mausam are produced by the same producer (Sheetal Talwar) makes the situation trickier rather than easier.

A source tells Businessofcinema.com, “Happi, which stars Pankaj Kapur in the title role is producer Sheetal Talwar’s wife Bhavna Talwar’s film. So it’s precious. Bhavna wanted to release Happi to coincide with Charlie Chaplin’s birth anniversary in April. But Pankaj had no time away from Mausam. However, Talwar is also the producer of Mausam and he can’t tell Pankaj to deflect attention from Mausam, which is a much bigger project than Happi. So Bhavna has no other option but to wait.”

Bhavna Talwar admits Happi is held up because of Mausam. “Pankajji is completely consumed by Mausam. We’ve no choice but to release Happi after Mausam releases on 22 July. In fact Pankaj-ji will be promoting Happi while he promotes Mausam. At the many events that they’ve planned for Mausam Pankajji will mention Happi. It’s a small film compared with Mausam and we have to prioritize it accordingly.”