Mausam: No longer screening at TIFF
Mausam: No longer screening at TIFF

Hi MissMalini Peeps,

As Rashmi reported earlier, Mausam ran into some censor issues which delayed the release of the film in India.  I thought that would not impact the Toronto screening at all. But, it did. A press release from TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) confirmed this.

Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor
Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor

“The Toronto International Film Festival® received word yesterday that the studio, Eros International Media Limited, has a memorandum of understanding in place with the Indian Air Force, giving them final approval on the film prior to clearing the Indian censor board. That approval will not be possible prior to Wednesday’s scheduled world premiere screening. As a result, all screenings of the film will be cancelled.”

This was also reported by the CBC (essentially Canada’s BBC, so it is trustworthy). Cameron Bailey, a TIFF co-director (and admirer of Rani Mukherji) was quoted to say: “We are extremely disappointed that the studio has informed us that the film will not have received the necessary regulatory approvals in India, forcing us to cancel all screenings of Mausam,”

Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor
Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor

It is rare for TIFF to cancel screenings on such short notice, the last time I recall this was, well, September 11, 2001. I really was looking forward to press conference and screening, as mentioned in my TIFF preview post. I was also looking forward to seeing Sonam Kapoor’s TIFF style! MissMalini readers, are you surprised by these sudden censor issues?