The future of Bhobishyoter Bhoot is still uncertain.

Anik Dutta’s film was not screened in the city on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court directed the state to ensure unhindered screening of the political satire. The film had released on February 15 and was pulled out of city cinemas the very next day.

On record, those associated with the film are yet to approach the movie halls. Off the record, sources said some halls had been sounded out and the response was awaited.

A commercial angle, revolving around big-ticket movies now showing, was also cited as a factor that will decide the timing.

But city multiplexes, none of whose representatives was willing to speak on record, split legal hairs and insisted that it was the theatre’s discretion whether or not to screen a film.

Sources in city cinemas that Metro spoke to on Saturday said Friday’s Supreme Court order did not direct the theatres to screen the film but placed the onus on the state and police to provide security to theatres and the audience for screening of the film.

“As far as we know, at no point does the order direct cinemas to play the film. It merely tells the state to ensure that screenings, should theatres decide to play the film, continue unhindered,” a plex source said.

Chances of Dutta’s film returning to theatres anytime soon were slim because of a packed screening schedule, the source said. It was also not possible to start screening a new film in the middle of the week at the cost of a film that is already playing, he said.

The Supreme Court order, issued on Friday, directed the Bengal chief secretary, home secretary and director-general of police “to ensure proper arrangements of security are made to facilitate screening of the film and to ensure viewers and audience are not in danger and there is no danger to the property of the theatre where the film is screened”.

“I’m waiting for the film to return to the theatres. My producers are in touch with the exhibitors,” director Dutta said on Saturday.

“Commercial viability” is a factor as several big releases, including the Akshay Kumar-starrer Kesari, are lined up for the Holi weekend. Captain Marvel and Amitabh Bachchan’s Badla are enjoying houseful shows at present.

Bhobishyoter Bhoot, too, ran to packed houses before screenings were stopped a day after its release. After that, the film was only screened at suburban theatres such as Jayanti in Barrackpore and Lali in Barasat but most of those shows were sold out.

Chatter on social media suggests film buffs in the city are waiting to watch the film, with some hailing the Supreme Court verdict as a “victory of democracy”.

City theatres said they would decide on Monday or Tuesday, while drawing up the programming schedule for the following week, whether to screen Dutta’s film. The legal teams of city theatres would evaluate the Supreme Court order before a decision is taken, cinema sources said.

Screening would be possible only if adequate security arrangements were made by the state to ensure that there was no threat to patrons or the possibility of a law-and-order situation arising, sources said. “The safety of our patrons is of paramount importance,” a multiplex representative said.

Additional reporting by Arindam Chatterjee