Woody Allen found anti-tobacco ad distracting, says distributor

American filmmaker Woody Allen refused to screen his movie "Blue Jasmine" in India as he didn't want the audiences to get distracted by the anti-tobacco disclaimers, says distributor.

Allen's movie that stars Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin, was supposed to hit Indian theatres this weekend. But the screening has been cancelled now.

The movie has two smoking scenes and, according to Indian law, a disclaimer about the evils of tobacco use has to be flashed while showing smoking scenes in films or on TV.

"Allen has the creative control as per the agreement. He wasn't comfortable with the disclaimer that we are required to run when some smoking scene is shown in films. He feels that when the scroll comes, attention goes to it rather than the scene," Deepak Sharma, COO of PVR Pictures, told IANS.

PVR Pictures had planned to lock 25 to 30 screens for the film.

"We had to abide by the law and we don't have control over the film, so it's alright," he said.