Jagga Jasoos clocks 2 hours 42 minutes, sends producers into a tizzy, but Anurag Basu won t budge

Lengthy films are giving their producers and the distributors the heebie-jeebies. It is widely believed and perhaps rightly so that films exceeding a running-time of 2 hours is looked on with wary eyes by audiences.

It was for this reason that 14 minutes was snipped off from the final cut of Tubelight just days before release. While Kabir Khan complied with the marketing compulsions, Anurag Basu is not willing budge.

His eagerly awaited film Jagga Josoos plays which opens this Friday, run into a running-time of 2 hours and 42 minutes, making it problematic for multiplex chains to accommodate an optimum number of shows.

However, Anurag is determined to keep the playing-time of his film exactly what it is. Says a source close to the development, Anurag is being asked to reduce the film s length by at least 15-20 minutes. But he is not willing to relent, come what may. Even Ranbir Kapoor who is one of the film s producers feels the film is long. But Anurag feels every film has to tell its story at its own peace. Aur agar yeh film ki length lagbhag teen ghante hain toh kaun sa audience ko ghar jaake desh badalna hain? (And if this film s length is nearly three hours then what is the big event that drags them away?).