It was on September 16, 2016 that we released our same-sex ballad – Miss You – performing it at Delhi’s Hard Rock Cafe. While the track went live that very evening on several music-related websites, the application for a censor approval received a very different response. They wanted 10 seconds taken off from the music video – a scene that had two men in bed. It wasn’t a love-making scene and in fact was one of separation.
We tried to reason with the CBFC – that some sections of the press implied was homophobic – that the 10 seconds in question was part of a narrative. For us, and for me in particular, the battle was primarily about reclaiming and claiming spaces that should ideally be ours. The music video, after all, was already on YouTube and our Facebook page and garnering an impressive number of views.
We finally won the case after appealing to the Appellate Tribunal. In my appeal, I requested them to rise above society and its limited view on love and homosexuality. It was January 25, 2017 then, over four months after we released the track.
What we have now is a fresh track, an EDM version, of the love song. The words haven’t changed but the music has moved away from raw drums, guitars and soft rock feel it had. It is hard, pumping dance stuff that is something we as a band would never replicate on stage for sure.
Even the visuals have changed except for some parts that are from the original video. We have added graphics, ‘takes’ that were not part of the original music video, royalty free visuals and some recently shot bits. There is a lot of colour for sure.
The hope is that the video and track makes it to night clubs, particularly those that have LGBTQ+ nights. It isn’t an easy task but we hope that happens!
- 2 Years After Winning the Battle with Censor Board over a Same-Sex Video Song, a Remix Version of it is Available Now - January 25, 2020
- Head Held High : A Song Dedicated to the Queer Community - July 10, 2018
- The Importance of IDAHOBIT - May 17, 2018