Censor Board allows Anurag Kashyap to retain 'Bombay' in film title

Mumbai: After banning the word ‘Bombay’ from several films, songs and dialogues, the Censor Board of Film Certification has decided to let director Anurag Kashyap retain the word ‘Bombay’ in his upcoming film ‘Bombay Velvet’, according to a report in Mid-day.

A source was quoted as saying, “Apart from cuss words and other issues, the controversy over usage of ‘Bombay’ in films and songs was discussed. A board member pointed out that a film should be allowed to use the colonial name if it is set in a period before The Maharashtra Restoration of Name ‘Mumbai’ for ‘Bombay Act, 1996, came into effect.”

'Bombay Velvet' stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar. The film is based on historian Gyan Prakash's book 'Mumbai Fables', narrates the story of how the city in '60s became a metropolis against the backdrop of love, greed, violence and jazz music.

A couple of weeks ago musician Mihir Joshi was asked by the Censor Board to remove the word ‘Bombay’ from his song ‘Sorry’. According to reports the decision was initially taken up by Censor Board Examining Committee under the guidance of former chief Leela Samson.

When the song aired on national television, the word ‘Bombay’ had to beeped out as the name ‘Bombay’ officially changed to ‘Mumbai’ in 1995.