Billu Barber, the Bollywood flick, finally released to theaters with rather strange variations of the name. In some theaters the film posters scream out just “Billu”, while a theater I pass on my way back from work has the full “Billu Barber” but with Barber shunted out with white tape. There are several posters in town which are still sticking to, without recourse to white tape masks, Billu Barber. Now, the controversy is all about Barbers refusing to accept the word Barber describing their profession (the protests have been initiated by the euphemistically named “The Salon and Beauty Parlors’ Association”).

I would rather had the Billu’s of the world doing the protesting. I mean, ace Investment Banker Bilwant “Billu” Aluwaliah could have easily led this protest on grounds that the film sandboxed him with people who shaped hair and massaged scalps and backs (as against his profession that shaped M&A disaters and massaged financials in pitch-books).

My fellow bongs are significantly more docile in these matters. A few years back a Mithun Chakrabarti starrer named “Hanumanprasad Bandwalla” did roaring business without the musicians (or the monkeys) complaining.

In the land of the Mahatma, has tolerance left the building?