“I’m not sorry, ‘Bombay’ cannot just be eradicated from our lives,” says musician Mihir Joshi . A Mumbaikar who grew up in a middle class Maharashtrian family, Mr. Joshi is at the centre of a debate on the preferred nomenclature for “Maximum City”:Bombay or Mumbai? The controversy was triggered after the Censor Board, in a December 5, 2014 order, deleted the word ‘Bombay’ from his song “Sorry” without citing any reason. In an interview to Omar Rashid, Mr. Joshi shares what ‘Bombay’ means to a Mumbaikar and how tolerance for the word exists.
While composing the song, did it strike you even for a moment that you were using a word that would spiral into a controversy?
I wrote the song in early 2013, a few months after the Delhi rape case [in December 2012]. The only thing on my mind was all the crazy things we were watching on television and reading in the papers. I wanted to focus on two cities, Delhi and Mumbai, in my song — Delhi because it brought this massive issue to our country’s notice and Mumbai because I live here and stories of rape and crimes against women are reported. The words of the song just seemed to come naturally to me as I was writing them. When I wrote the first verse, I realised the word ‘Mumbai’ didn’t fit properly (where ‘Bombay’ currently does) unless I modified its pronunciation. I didn’t want to do that. When I used that word, I didn’t think for a second that it would cause such a fuss — eight months after the song was released!
People have accused you of using the word ‘Bombay’ as a means of gaining publicity for your song.
I can’t stop people from thinking what they want. All I can say is the song was up on YouTube eight months before this controversy started. In those eight months, not one person wrote to me saying that they didn’t like the use of the word ‘Bombay’. If anything, I’d just received mails, messages and comments praising the song and the message it was trying to convey. The nicest thing was fathers with young daughters telling me that they really relate to the song. If I thought that the inclusion of the word ‘Bombay’ in such a passing way would cause a controversy and bring attention to my song, I would have done something about it when I released my album.
Did the Censor Board tell you why it decided to mute the word? What did they object to?
The Censor Board was in touch only with my label ‘Times Music’ but they’ve [Times Music] told me that no reasons were given. They were told that unless the word ‘Bombay’ was removed, a censor certificate could not be granted. All I’ve done in the last few days is to ask why the word ‘Bombay’ is wrong and why the Censor Board felt it had to be removed. If they can give me a legitimate answer, I’m sure no one will have a problem.
“ If this Censor Board allows an upcoming movie named “Bombay Velvet” to go through unscathed, then what was wrong with the use of the word ‘Bombay’ in my song? ”
In all this, has the message of your song been lost?
It has to a certain extent, but at the same time the song has also inadvertently reached out to a lot of people. I hope that once they get past the word ‘Bombay,’ they will actually hear the rest of the song and realise what it is about.
Who is offended by ‘Bombay’? As a Mumbaikar what do you think about the preference of one name over another? Is this about identity?
I don’t know who is offended by ‘Bombay’ and why they’d be offended by the word. I don’t care who named it Bombay or who renamed it Mumbai. We’ve lived in the city when it was Bombay and are living in it now that it is Mumbai. I’m a Maharashtrian and I respect the sentiments of people who have attachment to the word Mumbai, but I also understand that even if the name of the city is officially Mumbai, the word ‘Bombay’ cannot be eradicated from our lives. Also, the name of my album is “Mumbai Blues,” not “Bombay Blues.”
Why then do you think is there so much sensitivity over Mumbai/Bombay? Do common Mumbaikars care?
I personally don’t have a problem with either word and people I know don’t have a problem with it too. But I guess that there are enough people and enough people in places of power who care. I respect their decision to rename the city and I am happy to call it Mumbai, but it shouldn’t reach a point where people are afraid to use the word Bombay because it’s not an offensive word. I don’t think I’m being anti-Indian or anti-Maharashtrian if I call Mumbai ‘Bombay’ in my song. I think tolerance for the word exists and should exist. We can’t pretend it doesn’t exist or penalise people who use the word. If that was the case, when are the names Bombay High Court, Bombay Stock Exchange, IIT Bombay, Bombay Scottish, Bombay Yatch Club, Bombay Dyeing and other names changing?
Have you received any threats? You interacted with some Shiv Sainiks online.
No. People did get personal — some insulted me, my songwriting, my singing and said this was all a gimmick, but I don’t have a problem with any of that. Trolls exist and they are entitled to their opinion. I wrote the song because that was my way of expressing my feelings about something I felt very strongly about.
And yes, I spoke to some Shiv Sainiks. I feel they did realise that I’m not trying to politicise things or create a controversy. I was happy to end my conversation with them on a positive note. They just requested that I clear a couple of things on Twitter, which I happily did.
You received a lot of support on social media. But do you think more people will actually go out and use the word Bombay more often in their work?
I’m really grateful for all the support from the media and on social media. I’m glad people feel this strongly about this subject. I don’t know if more people will use the word ‘Bombay’ or call it Mumbai. What I hope is that a lot of people and the media will question the Censor Board. This happened with my song; it could have happened with someone else’s. What’s happening now is people are saying, “We won’t accept random censoring of things in our life.”
The decision to mute ‘Bombay’ was taken under the Leela Samson regime. But the new Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani supports it. Should artistes like you be apprehensive?
I’m not apprehensive, nor are other artistes. I’ve always been a law-abiding person. You show me that I’ve done something wrong — that legally the word ‘Bombay’ has been outlawed and that using it was an offence and I won’t have any problems with their decision. My issue is simply this: if this Censor Board allows an upcoming movie named “Bombay Velvet” to go through unscathed, then what was wrong with the use of the word in my song? Give me a legitimate reason and I will respect it.
