Director Navjot Gulati slams Maddock Films for delaying Pooja Meri Jaan release: ‘They don’t care about small films’

IN 2022, filmmaker Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films proclaimed the thriller, Pooja Meri Jaan, generating wonder among audiences. Despite completing production and existence positioned for an OTT give up, the shoot has remained unreleased for nearly four years, leaving many wondering what went wrong behind the scenes.Now, in an interview with Variety India, director Navjot Gulati has broken his silence on the prolonged delay, alleging pricing disputes and stalled negotiations as the primary reasons the film continues to remain in limbo.Navjot Gulati on Pooja Meri Jaan’s release delayNavjot shared that the film starring Mrunal Thakur and Huma Qureshi completed shooting smoothly and was set for an OTT release. He revealed that it was initially scheduled to premiere on JioCinema, but after the merger of Disney+ Hotstar and JioCinema, the makers pitched the film to other streaming platforms. However, according to the filmmaker, negotiations collapsed because the producers were asking for a high price.Expressing his frustration over the prolonged delay, he said, “They want a better price, which is understandable to some extent. You postponed it to 2024, then 2025, and now we're in February 2026. One platform wants to buy the film, but price negotiations have been going on for the last nine months. This is an unending cycle. They will never sell it unless they get the price they’re looking for. The reality is, they are so consumed by big movies now that they don’t care about the small films they have made. Why can’t Maddock release it in cinemas when they aren’t getting the price on OTT?”He further revealed that Amar Kaushik, who is also the film’s co-producer, has not been responding to his calls. He added, “I’m tired of calling and texting and yet not hearing back. The only reason I’m telling this to the world is that they refuse to have any sort of accountability. The film remains topical and relevant even today, but I fear that if I don’t do something, it will never be released because they don’t care about it. I don’t want it to become Shoojit Sircar’s Shoebite, which is only talked about but was never released.”About Maddock FilmsMaddock Films was founded by Dinesh Vijan in 2005 and began its journey with the production of Love Aaj Kal (2009). Over the years, the production house has delivered several hits and blockbusters, including Cocktail, Badlapur and Angrezi Medium. It has also built its own cinematic universe — the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe — which includes Stree (2018), Stree 2 (2024), Bhediya (2022), Munjya (2024) and Thamma (2025).