Mumbai: The controversy of Marathis versus the non-Marathis in Mumbai has surfaced yet again, but this time in a film which has, perhaps inevitably, run into trouble with the censor board.

"Mumbai humari hai, Marathiyon ki nahi!"
"Mumbai Amchich!"

These are just some of the provocative snippets from the movie Mumbai Amchich, which means Mumbai is ours only.

The controversial film is a one man enterprise – Sharad Bandsode has written, directed, produced and acted as the protagonist. Bandsode has a pretty clear message for his viewers.

“When Marathis don’t get what they want, they want to drive everyone out. ‘Go back to your own state, we’ll take our own (back)’”, says Bandsode.

However, these strong views did not find favour with Censor Board Chairperson Sharmila Tagore.

"India is a democratic country, everyone can come and go wherever they want,” she says, adding, “They show a lot of violence (in the film)."

After being tossed about between the censor board and the courts for months, the film is finally being released on January 18 with some cuts.

All may still not go well for Bandsode, though, for the film can easily kick up a political storm.

"If the film has objectionable content, we will ask for it to be banned,” insisted Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam.

Seeing the storm brewing around his debut film, Bandsode has now decided that he will not release the film in Mumbai.

With inputs by Nimisha Srivastav