CENSOR BOARD

When Mihir Joshi, a musician, released his debut album, Mumbai Blues, a run-in with the country’s Censor Board was the last thing he was expecting. And yet, so strange are the ways the agency that keeps a check on the morals of Indians, that it has kicked up a controversy when none was needed, and no one is sure why. Joshi’s album had been sent to the Censor Board for clearance so that a music video could air on television. Sorry, the song from which the word ‘Bombay’ was bleeped out for broascast clearance, is a harmless one on the theme of a father apologising to his daughter about the world he was leaving her in.

Joshi says he used ‘Bombay’, Mumbai’s former name, purely for purposes of rhyme. But he was told that the word still had to be muted. Joshi took to Twitter on Sunday and soon enough it became a talking point. It is bizarre that the Board finds ‘Bombay’ offensive in such a non- political context. Courts, hospitals and numerous businesses have ‘Bombay’ in their name, including the upcoming Anurag Kashyap movie Bombay Velvet.

The city’s name may have officially been changed to its original Marathi form, as the Shiv Sena had demanded, but that does not mean exposure to the old name will corrupt the youth.

Bombay VelvetCensor BoardMumbai BluesShiv Sena