A video of students dancing to the Bollywood song “Munni Badnaam” on social media has gone viral and sparked controversy. The students are reportedly from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
One post on X (previously Twitter) by user @venom1s depicts a female student performing with other people in the background, even though other users shared the video. Reactions to this have been conflicted; some have deemed the performance improper, while others have seen nothing wrong with it.
The institute’s official social media accounts have not posted the video. IIT Bombay hasn’t commented on the incident either.
Divergent viewpoints are the root of the controversy. Some internet users attacked the performance and questioned whether it was consistent with the reputation of one of India’s most prominent engineering schools. “People go to IIT to study, then what is happening?” was a statement made by one person. Someone else merely called it “inappropriate.” According to these critics, such performances don’t align with the standards of an academic institution such as IIT Bombay.
Not every answer, though, was unfavourable. Several people defended the students, claiming that the dance was perfectly acceptable and denouncing moral policing. “What is the issue, actually?” said one person in a comment. Some said, “This just proves that IITians are good at everything,” while another said, “Nothing wrong with it.”
IIT Bombay recently made headlines for its 2023–24 placement report, which revealed that a quarter of students were unable to find employment through on-campus placements. Some students obtained employment offers with annual incomes as low as 4 lakh rupees, despite the competitiveness and demanding coursework.
