Roshan Sethi’s romantic comedy A Nice Indian Boy has been retitled A Nice Boy for its India release on October 17, a change that the film’s distributors have attributed to “censorship”.
The film’s distributor, Pictureworks, revealed the change in an Instagram post. Responding to an user in the comments section, they attributed the change in title to “censorship in India”.
No further clarification was offered by Pictureworks on whether the modification was requested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Based on Madhuri Shekar’s play of the same name, A Nice Indian Boy follows Naveen (Karan Soni), an Indian-American doctor, who introduces his fiancé, Jay (Jonathan Groff) — a white man adopted by Indian parents — to his traditional family.
The cast also includes Sunita Mani, Zarna Garg, and Harish Patel.
A Nice Indian Boy premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival on March 12, 2024, and was released in the United States on April 4, 2025, by Blue Harbor Entertainment.
Reacting to the development, screenwriter Apurva Asrani criticised the CBFC on X, recalling past controversies around queer representation.
“Remember when the Aligarh mayor wanted #Aligarh banned because she thought a gay protagonist made her city look bad? Seems like the CBFC now fears that calling a gay man ‘A Nice Indian Boy’ might make the whole country gay. 🤷♂️ #ANiceBoy #ANiceIndianBoy,” Asrani wrote.
Earlier this year, Malayalam court room drama ‘Janaki vs State of Kerala’ also had a run-in with the CBFC over the film’s title. The censor board had objected to naming a rape survivor as Janaki, another name of Sita. The makers modified the title to ‘JSK Janaki V. vs State of Kerala’ to obtain a CBFC certificate.