IIT Bombay students’ dance to ‘Munni Badnaam’ goes viral, netizens call it ‘doom’

A video of students, reportedly from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, dancing to the Bollywood hit ‘Munni Badnaam’ has taken social media by storm and sparked heated debates. The clip, which has been widely shared across platforms, shows a female student dancing with others in the background and has sparked a wave of mixed reactions online.

Notably, the video was posted by user @venom1s on X (formerly Twitter), but has not appeared on any of IIT Bombay’s official social media accounts. The institute has also not issued a statement on the viral clip, leaving the debate largely on social platforms.

The viral video has created a divide among netizens, with some finding the performance inappropriate for a prestigious institute like IIT Bombay, while others see no harm in it. Critics raised concerns about the image of one of India’s top engineering institutes being linked to a dance performance set to a popular Bollywood item song. One user wondered, “People go to IIT to study, what happens then?” while another bluntly labeled it ‘inappropriate’.

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October 18, 2024

The critics argue that IIT Bombay, known for its rigorous academic environment and competitive spirit, needs to maintain a certain level of decorum, and that this kind of performance does not align with the values ​​expected of students of such an esteemed institution.

However, not everyone agreed with the response. Several users came forward to defend the students, denouncing the moral police and raising the unnecessary controversy. “What’s even going on?” asked one user, while another said, “This just proves that IITians are good at everything.” Many echoed similar sentiments, claiming there was nothing offensive or inappropriate about the performance.

The viral dance video comes soon after IIT Bombay was in the news for its 2023-2024 placement report, which showed that 25% of students failed to secure jobs through on-campus placements. While the institute has long been praised for its academic rigor and high placement rates, some students have reportedly received job offers with annual salaries as low as Rs 4 lakh, adding to concerns about the pressure students face.

The combination of these events has led some netizens to draw a connection between the perceived “demise” of IIT Bombay’s prestigious image and the dance video, although others see it as a non-issue and a lighthearted moment.

While the debate continues, IIT Bombay’s silence on the issue leaves the incident open to public interpretation, with opinions continuing to clash over whether the video represents an innocent moment of student fun or a serious defacement of the institute’s image.