chief
Prime VIP
Shahrukh Khan had to change the name of his film Billu Barber to just Billu because a certain group of barbers felt offended. However, producer Aamir Khan can retain the name of his film Dhobi Ghat though the title has the word Dhobi in it.
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court dismissed a plea by dalit dhobi community against the title of ‘Dhobi Ghat’. According to the petitioner it offended the dhobi (washermen) caste. But the High Court couldn’t find anything wrong with the name of the film, and instead penalised the petitioner for filing such a case.
What court has to say: Dhobi Ghat’ is a geographical description of a place and is not offensive, reports a tabloid.
On the other hand, petitioner Vinod Kumar Kanojia, who heads the Hindustan Kanojia Organisation of dhobis, said that the title of the film may hurt the feelings of his community and can lead to caste division.
He even urged the censor board to evaluate the title of the film while considering the sentiments of dhobis. Dhobi Ghat is directed by Aamir’s wife Kiran Rao and received rave reviews at Toronto Film Festival 2010.
For the Billu Barber premiere, Shahrukh invited over 400 barbers from across Maharashtra, and then too he had to change the name of the film. Aamir may not have to do so.
