A still from Aaja Nachle

Dec. 1: Madhuri Dixit’s comeback film has bought peace by withdrawing a line in the title track that had offended some Dalits and offering an apology.

Uttar Pradesh’s Mayavati government, the first to ban Aaja Nachle last night, allowed the screening today after theatre owners handed affidavits saying the offensive line had been deleted.

“Yash Raj Films apologises to all the people whose sentiments have been hurt with the lyrics of one line in the title track of Aaja Nachle. It was not our intention to hurt anybody.

“We have taken immediate steps to rectify the damage caused and have instructed all our distributors and exhibitors to delete the objectionable words from the song as of last night,” a statement issued by the producers said.

Director Anil Mehta and chairman of Yash Raj Films Yash Chopra offered separate apologies.

But Punjab and Haryana, which followed Uttar Pradesh’s lead in imposing the ban today, had till evening not lifted it.

More trouble followed as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes decided to wade into the row. “We will summon all the people who have performed, written and cleared the lyrics as well as the producer and the director,” chairperson Buta Singh said.

The commission would submit a report to Parliament, he said, alleging the “lyrics go against two laws passed by Parliament and the Constitution itself”.

All distributors of Aaja Nachle were instructed to cut 15 feet of reel with the controversial line: “Bole mochi bhi khud ko sonar hai.”

Multiplexes in Calcutta confirmed this afternoon that the line has been removed.

“The basic premise of the film is to be inclusive and take everybody along and make something beautiful and constructive. In such a scenario, how can the intention of a filmmaker be to hurt anybody?” asked Mehta.

“Even though it is not the best way to handle the film, we have spliced the prints physically and now the audiences will see a jerk there in the song.” Aaja Nachle is Mehta’s first film as director.

Soon after receiving the apology around 11am, the Mayavati government decided to lift the ban. “We have instructed the hall owners to furnish an affidavit stating clearly that the disputed lines of the song have been wiped out,” cabinet secretary Shashank Sekhar Singh said.

The film was being shown in 190 of the state’s 900-odd halls.

“I had an advance ticket for the 3pm show but the hall owners managed to file the affidavit to the district magistrate by 2.30pm and the show was allowed only after 3.30pm,” said Avinash Mishra, a film-goer in Lucknow.

The ban had come well past 9 last night, and police forcibly stopped the late night show that starts at 10.45.

J.N. Chamber, principal secretary, home, said: “The ban is applicable to CDs also.”

Piyush Mishra, who wrote the lyrics, defended his choice of words: “Having travelled across the country as a theatre artiste, I can tell you that mochi is not a derogatory word. It is a profession. I have not used the word chamaar….”

But he, too, offered an apology to anybody whose sentiments had been hurt.