Mumbai: The 30-second footage of Shahid Kapoor locked in an aerial fight aboard an air force flight in Mausam is not that easy to get rid of. Apparently editing out the aerial fight that the air force objects to, would change the storyline.

The film’s director Pankaj Kapoor has apparently made it clear that the footage stays.

Producer Sheetal Talwar tells Businessofcinema.com, “It’s not about just 30 seconds of footage. If we remove that material the film’s storyline changes. So yes, we aren’t removing the footage that the Air Force has asked us to.”

Talwar and his director’s insistence on the aerial action puts the Censor Board in a fix. Either the censor panel bypasses the will of the Air Force and disregards its refusal to grant a NOC (no objection certificate) to the film or it holds the film back for a shot that apparently doesn’t break any of the censorship guidelines.

The Censor Board chief executive officer Pankaja Thakur has now decided to refer the peculiar case to the censor chief Leela Samson.

Thankur says, “I’ve referred the matter to the chairperson. A decision will be taken before 13 September. That’s the scheduled time for the screening of Mausam for censor certification.”

When asked if there’s a likelihood of the censor board bypassing the air force’s objection, Thakur said, “That’s a decision that the chairperson has to take.”