Popular directors mentioned in Mausam ad without permission

Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor starrer Mausam hit the theatres on September 23. The project remained in the news for weeks before it’s much publicized release. And now, less than a week after its release, the film is back in news. And this time, for all the wrong reasons.

A trade magazine published on Sunday September 25, 2011 had its pages filled with adverts praising Shahid’s performance and Pankaj Kapur’s brilliance in the recent release. Surprisingly, some of the personalities quoted in those very commercials were not even aware that their names had been used. What’s more, even Shahid Kapoor, the lead actor did not know about the publicity campaign.

A friend of the actor told Mumbai Mirror, “Shahid is flabbergasted. He cannot believe that such a thing has been carried out without even keeping him in the loop. Agar usko thoda sa bhi pata hota, toh use permission definitely nahin diya hota.”

The official spokesperson of the actor added, “Shahid is not aware of these ads. He has been busy with post overseas productions. The producers of Mausam must have put these ads out.”

A source informed us, “At least three prominent personalities who have been quoted in the advert were not informed about it. Some of them learnt about it only on Tuesday, when their friends from the industry called them up. Obviously it was a publicity exercise undertaken by the makers of the film.”

The three people unaware about their names being used to publicise Pankaj Kapur’s maiden directorial venture, happen to be Ken Ghosh, Parmeet Sethi and Nikhil Advani.

When contacted, Ken cleared his stance and said, “I don’t know why they’ve used my name to endorse Mausam and Shahid’s performance in it. I haven’t even seen the film. I wish to clarify that I have not endorsed the ad.”

Parmeet Sethi, who had directed Shahid in Badmaash Company, too was taken aback with the surprise advert in the trade magazine. The actor-turned-filmmaker said, “Someone has played mischief. If I had to do such an exercise, I would have rather done it with more style and élan in leading newspapers and not in some trade magazine.”

A friend of Nikhil Advani, the third person who was unaware of the publicity exercise undertaken by Mausam makers, informed, “Nikhil has been trying to figure out how his name was used without his consent and knowledge. He has still not got any answers.”

The co-producer of the film Madhu Mantena, seemed to be the only person aware of the adverts in the magazine. When contacted, Mantena said, “Yes, we did include Nikhil Advani, Ken Ghosh and Parmeet Sethi’s names. They are friends. We wanted to congratulate Shahid on his excellent performance, Such things are a norm in the industry.”