Sorry, that’s a cuss word

The word har*mz**di seems to have earned the wrath of the Censor Board. The producers of Ishqiya had to delete the word from their promo after the Censor Board raised an objection to it.

“There was a dialogue in film where Naseeruddin Shah tells Arshad Warsi that us har*mz**di se mujhko pyar ho gaya hai. The dialogue was delivered with such emotion that newcomer director debutante Abhishek Chaubey requested producer Vishal Bharadwaj to keep it as the promo. Everything was okay till the promo was submitted to the Censor Board for approval and it raised an objection because that was a derogatory term being used to refer a woman,” says a source close to the film.

There was a point when the promos got stuck just because of that one word. Then Vishal had a bright idea. “The direct dialogue was made into a sarcastic one. Instead of the word har*mz**di, he decided to put in the antonym sarifzaadi. The same dialogue that was a direct insult meant for Vidya’s character turned into a sarcastic remark,” the source added.

Set in the backdrop of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Ishqiya is a tale of romance between people caught in a web of crime, suspense, passion and deceit. It’s basically a story of two thieves, Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi), who are on the run from their crime lord, Mushtaq (Salman Shahid).

They finally seek refuge with an old friend but instead meet his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan) at his house. As they plan their escape, their time spent together draws the duo to her, Khalujan with his vision of old-fashioned love and Babban with his lascivious heart. The threat of imminent death forces all of them on a path of violence and betrayal.