'Bombay' is taboo

Fearing a backlash from certain political groups, yet another filmmaker not allowed to use the city's original name

Fearing a backlash from certain political groups, yet another filmmaker not allowed to use the city's original name

Artistic freedom be damned! The IMPPA (Indian Motions Pictures Producers' Association) these days seems to be more worried about keeping political parties happy.


Filmmaker Prem Soni

Not willing to risk the wrath of certain political groups, the association is going all out to ensure filmmaker Prem Soni change the title of his forthcoming movie Bombay Mumbai, despite the latter's plea that the name is vital to the story.

But Soni is adamant. "It's ridiculous! My film is about a couple that meets when Mumbai was still called Bombay. It's about how relationships changed when the name of the city changed. How can I name the film anything else other than Bombay Mumbai?"

Interestingly, the film is written by Imtiaz Ali's brother Sajid Ali. Madhavan has apparently been signed on as lead actor, while Anushka Sharma and Aditi Rao are in the running for female lead.

Soni is currently embroiled in a bitter battle with the IMPPA, who is refusing to listen to logic. "We are getting nervous and impatient. We need the title cleared before we start shooting," he says.

Soni isn't the first to face this stand by IMPPA, which has been long refusing to register the word 'Bombay' in movie titles irrespective of which era the film is set in.
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Last year producer Ekta Kapoor faced a similar problem with her movie, which was later called Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. Karan Johar, had to formally apologise to MNS chief Raj Thackeray because his movie Wake Up Sid had a dialogue that used the word 'Bombay' instead of Mumbai.
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Unlike Kapoor and Johar, Anurag Kashyap has made it clear that he will go ahead with his movie titled Bombay Velvet. Whether he manages to sustain this courage against the political giants of Maharashtra only time will tell.

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