The News Minute | February 12, 2015 | 12.20 pm IST
Censor board chairman, Pahlaj Nihalani has given the strangest explanation over the usage of the word ‘Bombay’ in upcoming movie release ‘Bombay Velvet’.
Coming in the wake of controversy over the omission of the word Bombay in Mihir Joshi’s song, Nihalani’s logic may give some good news for Anurag Kashyap, the director of Bombay Velvet. "If a film is a period drama, if it is set during a time when Mumbai was called Bombay then we may consider retaining the old name for the city. However, in the contemporary context, 'Bombay' won't be allowed at all," Nihalani said.
The city’s name was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995 and “ if filmmakers and song writers continue to use the unconstitutional name for the city, we’ve no choice but to delete it,“ says the Chairperson of the country’s censor board.
Nihalani also called making “films and writing songs are a social responsibility. You can’t change geography and history just to sound trendy"
We’ve all heard how Honey Singh’s songs have been accused of being misogynist and criticised for objectifying women. But when did calling a place by some other name, that too what it stood for hundreds of years in history, have anything to do with “social responsibility”?
To put things in perspective, India or Bharat itself is referred to from time to time as Hindustan by everyone in the government including the Prime Minister. Even in Kannada, people find it easier to refer to India as Bharat than by its official name.
Image courtesy: Bombay Velvet Facebook page
So does that mean a ‘Bangalore Days’ today would have to be called by its new ‘Bengaluru Days’?
Whether or not we like it, colonial rule will remain an integral part of India’s history. One cannot just prevent a name’s usage, as Bombay has more essence and meaning for people just as Madras connects with people more than Chennai could ever do. Case in point: a recent hit Tamil movie release titled ‘Madras’.
The Prime Minister’s website describes Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. Yet, the prime minister often refers to the nation often as Hindustan. Hindustan, is no longer India’s official name, yet the word which has its origins in the 17th century continues to play a role.
The word India itself is the result of centuries worth of evolution. The earliest written records refer to the Indian sub-continent as the “Hapta Hendu” in Avestan and “Sapta Sindhu” in Sanksrit, on account of the Sindhu river. The Persians referred to the Indian sub-continent as “Al-Hind”, meaning the land lying across the river Sindhu. A resident of “al-Hind” became “al-Hindi”. The word Hindustan also originates here.
When the British came along, they could not pronounce Sindhu very well, and called gave it a Latin flavor, calling it Indus, and thence comes India.
The Censor Board’s work is to see to certify films, not pontificate about the Constitutionality of its contents. Debates on Constitutionality are meant for the public sphere, and it is only the higher courts which can strike down something for being unconstitutional.