After the brouhaha over the supposedly casteist title, Manoj Bajpayee’s film is no longer Ghooskhor Pandat.

In his affidavit regarding the withdrawal of the offensive, title director Neeraj Pandey said, “I respectfully submit that the earlier title, ‘Ghooskhor Pandat’, stands unequivocally withdrawn and shall not be used in any manner whatsoever. While the new title has not yet been finalised, I undertake that any title that may hereafter be identified and adopted shall not be similar to, or evocative of, the earlier title in respect of which objections were raised, and shall accurately reflect the narrative and intent of the film without giving rise to unintended interpretations… I also state that all promotional material, posters, trailers and publicity content under the earlier title have already been withdrawn, prior to the listing of the present petition.”

In a related incident, a minister from Bihar has objected to another allegedly casteist film title Yadav Ji Ki Love Story. The JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said, “Films made with such caste-indicative titles are increasing tensions in society. Earlier too, petitions related to a film are pending before the judiciary, and now this appears to be another attempt to create controversy…”

In the meanwhile, the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) has asked Anurag Kashyap to remove a reference to Donald Trump in his film Kennedy.

It looks like name-calling is no longer a safe game in our cinema.

Also Read: Ghooskhor Pandat to be retitled after backlash; Delhi HC closes plea