As ‘Brahmastra’ Wraps up After 5 Yrs, Here Are 7 Films That Took Longer to Make

K Asif's 'Mughal-e-Azam' starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala took 16 years to hit theatres.

Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor have wrapped up the final schedule of Ayan Mukerji’s film Brahmastra, 5 years after they started shooting. Mukerji shared a picture with the lead actors on Instagram and wrote, “5 years since we took our first shot on Brahmāstra, and we’ve finally filmed our last one!”

However, some Bollywood films shot for even longer with many facing production hurdles along the way. Here are some Indian films that released more than 5 years after they went on floors:

1. Love and God

Love and God was K Asif’s last film and was his only film to be made completely in colour. The film starred Nimmi and Sanjeev Kumar in the lead as Nimmi and Kais. The film’s production started in 1963 with Guru Dutt in the lead, but the actor passed away in 1964. K Asif then cast Sanjeev in the lead, but the director died in March 1971.

15 years after his death, his widow Akhtar Asif released the film in 1986 even though it was incomplete. The film purportedly took more than 20 years to shoot and is part of the Guinness world records.

2. Mughal-e-Azam

Mughal-e-Azam, directed by K Asif, starred Prithviraj Kapoor, Madhubala, Dilip Kumar, Durga Khote. The film took 16 years to be completed. The film’s shoot started in 1946, but the film's financier Shiraz Ali moved to Pakistan after the Partition.

After the script was finished, Asif had cast Chandra Mohan and Nargis as Akbar and Anarkali. However, Mohan passed away after a heart attack in 1949. Businessman Shapoorji Pallonji later agreed to finance the film the next year. After he came on board, the film’s production resumed with a new cast.

The role of Anarkali went to Madhubala but Nutan and Suraiya were also considered for the role. Madhubala suffered from congenital heart disease and would often faint on the sets of Mughal-e-Azam. Add to that the extravagant sets and the fact that Asif would often go over budget and the film’s long production schedule makes sense.

3. Pakeezah

Meghnad Desai wrote, in his book ‘Pakeezah: An Ode To A Bygone World’, that the muhurat shot for Pakeezah happened in January 1957. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi and starred Meena Kumari, his then-wife in the lead. The film was still being shot in 1964 when Meena and Amrohi separated, which delayed the film’s production even further.

Meena fell very ill for almost half a decade but returned to sets in 1969. A few years ago, in 1967, the film’s cinematographer Josef Wirsching had passed away followed by music director Ghulam Mohammed’s demise the next year.

The film finally hit the screens on February 4, 1972, 16 years after the muhurat and the lead actor Meena Kumari, Bollywood’s ‘Tragedy Queen’ passed away in March.

4. Mehbooba

Mehbooba, starring Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, and Manisha Koirala took eight years to reach theatres after it went on floors. The film’s shoot started in 1999 and there are several rumours about what caused the delays in production. Some speculated that Ajay didn’t give all his time to the film while others theorised that the legal issues Sanjay was involved in caused further delays. However, Mumbai Mirror had reported that the film’s delay was caused by its climax shot in Bikaner.

The scene reportedly took over a year (18 months to be precise) to be finalised. Director Afzal Khan said that after the location was finalised, it took about 8 months for the lead actors’ schedules to line up and there were further production details for several reasons. Mehbooba hit theatres in July 2008.

5. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam

The production for the film reportedly started in February 1996 and KS Adhiyaman was at the helm of the project. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam is a remake of Adhiyaman’s film Thotta Chinungi.

Sunny Deol, Aamir Khan, and Juhi Chawla were purportedly cast as the lead actors first but the film went through a whole change in cast and Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Madhuri Dixit were finally cast in the film. Coupled with production hassles, the film took five years to make.

6. Bajirao Mastani

This Sanjay Leela Bhansali film is an odd-one-out in this list because it didn’t take a very long time to shoot, but the director did take 12 years to finally make the film. After the success of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Bhansali wanted to make Bajirao Mastani with Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead.

However, Aishwarya and Salman broke up and the former accused the latter of harassment. After Black, Bhansali decided to make the film with Kareena Kapoor (as Mastani), Rani Mukerji and Salman but that also fell through. Finally after the release of Ram-Leela in 2013, Bhansali found his lead pair in Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh and Bajirao Mastani, as we know it today, released in 2015.

7. Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke

Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke went on floors in 1994 and was previously titled Jaadoo. The film starred Shah Rukh Khan and Raveena Tandon and production came to a halt after shooting a few scenes. In 2004, the film’s title was changed and the makers shot the film with a different set of actors after a reported falling out with the actors. The film took 10 years and released in 2004.