Bollywood against B-word

Added: Oct 9, 2009

From: zoomdekho

Duration: 3:59

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta will lead a 300-strong, if not more, protest march to MNS president Raj Thackeray's Dadar home. Filmmaker and 300 others will resort to Gandhigiri at Raj Thackeray's home on Saturday to protest the ruckus MNS created over use of 'Bombay' in Karan Johar film. It seems Hansal Mehta said he was affronted by the manner in which the Wake Up Sid producer, arguably one of the most powerful names in Bollywood, had to apologize to Thackeray for using the word Bombay in his film, instead of Mumbai. On October 2, when the film was released, MNS men threatened to disrupt screenings across the city, unless Karan Johar apologized, which he did, the same day. The word Bombay occupies a few seconds of screen time. The hero Ranbir Kapoor meets Konkona for the first time and the two go for a walk. She is new to the city and Ranbir tells her, 'Everyone keeps cribbing about the Bombay rains, but I love Bombay rains the most'. Nine years ago after the release of Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar, I was subjected to humiliation by the moral police from some wing of the Shiv Sena, headed by Raj Thackeray. His touts vandalized my office. They thrashed me. They coloured my face black. I was summoned to Khar Danda and made to apologise in front of over 20,000 people and 10 MPs, MLAs and local politicians. I was made to touch the feet of a lady in the village to make amends for my mistake. My mistake? An innocuous line of dialogue from my film, misinterpreted, misunderstood and twisted. They had not even seen the film save a couple of them who viewed a pirated VCD and smelt a great opportunity for titillation. Some called me a coward. Some called me spineless." - Hansal Mehta in his blog Filmmakers are growing increasingly wary of having to deal with controversies because of politically incorrect words and references in their films. After the word Bombay in Wake Up Sid stirred up a hornets nest, the makers of the Sunny Deol and Irrfan Khan starrer Right Yaa Wrong have decided to use the word Mumbai instead of Bombay, which has been used twice in the film. Neeraj Pathak, the director of Right Yaa Wrong, said, I had not realised that the word Bombay was like a bomb, waiting to explode. It was only when I heard about the Wake Up Sid controversy that I decided to check my film. We have a sequence where the Goa Police and the Mumbai Police get together for an operation during which Deepal Shaw says Bombay Police instead of Mumbai Police. In another scene, a TV reporter too says Bombay Police. Although Im done with the films dubbing, I have decided to re-dub these bits rather than risk inviting any controversy.

Channel: Entertainment

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