Why was Leena Yadav shocked surprised at TIFF?

 

Director Leena Yadav was in for a pleasant surprise at one of the screenings of her Ajay Devgn produced film ‘Parched’ at the Toronto International Film Festival recently. So packed was the screening that the director herself struggled to get a ticket! The director recalls that in one of the later screenings of the film, post the premiere in the Special Presentation Section, the team assumed that they would not have a full house since it was also the last day of the festival and so none of them booked advance tickets.

But much to their surprise they found out that the show was a sold-out. Leena says,

“We even visited the theatre telling them that we were the crew, but we were told that the only way was to join the rush hour line and take a chance on cancellations! So, there I was standing in queue for a ticket to my own film!”

But the director insists that there can’t be a happier moment for a storyteller!

Leena adds,

“Someone even came up to us selling the ticket in black! A man standing ahead of me, who I had been chatting with, was outraged, and asked, ‘Do you know she is the director of the film? How can you sell her the ticket in black?’ So then she refused to take any money and offered me the ticket. Soon the TIFF volunteers were out asking me to come in, with or without a ticket. There is no bigger high than this for any director!”

The film that opened to packed house even got a standing ovation post the screening. What’s more, right from its premiere there, the film drew praise from some of the most accomplished film critics, who gave Parched a thumbs up!