Karan Johar’s Wake Up Sid ran into controversy as soon as it opened in theatres on Friday after activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) stopped its screening in Mumbai and Pune, claiming that the film hurt the sentiments of Maharashtrians by referring to Mumbai as Bombay.
Johar called on Thackeray and apologised for “hurting his sentiments”, explaining that the script demanded so. The MNS withdrew its protest by evening.
Lead actors Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma call the city ‘Bombay’ 10-12 times in the film.
The trouble started in Pune, where the screening of the film was stalled by MNS activists, on Friday. MNS activists also held protests at some cinema halls in Mumbai.
“As soon I learnt about the protests, I decided to pay a visit to Thackeray to explain why we have kept ‘Bombay’,” Johar told DNA immediately after leaving Thackeray’s residence on Friday afternoon.
Johar said, “Raj was very cordial and explained to us where he came from. We understood his point of view.”
Johar said he explained to the MNS chief that youngsters refer to Mumbai as Bombay and the film portrays this “realistically”.
“We apologised to him in case his sentiments were hurt. We are very sorry if we have hurt sentiments of other people. That was never our intention,” he said.
Johar has promised Thackeray to carry a disclaimer before every screening, “apologising for using ‘Bombay’ instead of Mumbai.”
“Mumbai is an integral part of the narrative. It is, in fact, the third main character in the film after Ranbir and Koko,” he said.
Johar said he would write to the Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPAA) to keep producers informed about such issues.
