B****Y meri jaan: Twitter outraged after censor board bans use of 'Bombay' in song

B****y meri jaan. Hear, hear. Usage of the word “Bombay” will result in immediate censorship, the all powerful censor board has decreed in it’s latest diktat.

In an unprecedented move, the central board of film certification (CBFC) has bleeped out the word “Bombay” from of the second line of a song in musician Mihir Joshi’s first music album before clearing it for release on television, reports the Indian Express .

The lyrics of the song are, ‘I am sorry sweetheart… this is the world I am giving you today. It is the same thing no matter what you read… from Delhi to Bombay. I wish it was different darling…wish you could feel nice and safe. But the world’s gone crazy, I don’t know what to say’.

The 33-year-old singer took to Twitter to vent his rage, shock and disappointment. He saw the edited version of the song, ‘Sorry’ for the first time on Sunday morning. Joshi said he was “amazed that the board censored the word Bombay.”

For everyone who was wondering about the censor certificate. Have a look. Just got it from Times Music. #Bombay pic.twitter.com/Vf10PqLLEQ

— Mihir Joshi (@mihirjoshimusic) February 2, 2015

The song is a conversation between a father- daughter duo, where the father is apologising to his daughter for all the violence against women in India, after the horrific gangrape of December 2012.

The new censor board head, Pankaj Nihalani, who took over last month, has stated that the decision was taken by his predecessor Leela Samson and in an interview with NDTV , Nihalani back Samson’s call to censor the word.

Bombay has been trending on Twitter since morning with citizens expressing outrage at the censor board’s decision.

#CensorBoard has a problem with "#Bombay" in a song.We have a problem with Censor Board: @mihirjoshimusic | https://t.co/mokptU4FMj … #Sorry

— Saif Ullah Khan (@saifizm) February 2, 2015

“@JohnBuckenham: @jhunjhunwala I was born in Bombay ban me too” @mihirjoshimusic

— ADM (@jhunjhunwala) February 1, 2015

Censored sample of Gandhiji's autobiography.. you're welcome, Censor Board @mihirjoshimusic @jhunjhunwala pic.twitter.com/o8p1VMfMai

— SH (@knightno17) February 1, 2015

Zaraa hatke, zaraa bachke, yeh hai *beep beep*, meri jaan!

— asanyfuleknow (@asanyfuleknow) February 1, 2015

I assume Bombay Velvet will now be retitled by the censor board to Mumbai Makhmali.

— Mihir Fadnavis (@mihirfadnavis) February 1, 2015