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Fortune lies in the name. Ask Amarr Upadhyay or Jayalalithaa. Or even film producers, writes Surendra Miglani.
This year too it is no different. Trade pundits point to the title of Mahesh Bhatt’s Murder as a factor that made it one of the biggest success stories (no disrespect meant to Mallika Sherawat’s body though!). The title, they believe, was good enough to arouse a curiosity about the movie. Surprising, is not it, that no filmmaker hit upon this simple but gripping title in 91 years of Hindi film history. A couple of years ago, the title of Jism, another Mahesh Bhatt film, is believed to have contributed to its box-office success. Another release of the current year which seems to have benefited at the ticket windows by its title is Hawas. In the case of Taarzan — The Wonder Car the opposite happened. Trade analysts believe that the title of the movie kept a chunk of moviegoers away as they thought the movie was about the legendary jungle king, while it actually revolved round a wonder car. The words "the wonder car" in the title were apparently too small to give the correct impression. Then there is I Proud to be an Indian, another release of 2004. First, the people could not quite comprehend the title and those who did, found it quite odd. The word ‘I’ which appeared in very bold letters on the posters and the album covers of the movie, made matters worse. Consequently, some people thought the title was ‘I’ . In any case, it is difficult to conclude which title is worse — ‘I’ or ‘I proud to be an Indian’. The title is believed to be one of the reasons behind the box-office debacle of an otherwise well-made movie. One of the most unattractive titles coined in the recent times has been Sshhhh..., released last year. Most cinegoers did not even know exactly how to pronounce it! The film was a disaster at the box-office and its title played the villain, at least to some extent. Yash Chopra is known to be the master of love stories and the titles of his movies, too, have often been appreciated. However, even some of his diehard fans have been disappointed by the title of his latest movie Veer-Zaara. A movie buff of Ludhiana, who otherwise happens to be a great fan of the master craftsman, was so enraged by the title that he called Chopra and urged him to change it. Chopra, however, insisted that the title was apt, keeping in view the contents of the movie and "even if you watch the movie’s trailors, you would be convinced about it". It is to be seen whether the title affects the box-office fortunes of the movie when it is released in November. One wonders why art filmmakers cannot think of attractive titles. More often than not cinegoers are put off by names like Spandan, Manthan, Aakrosh, Gaman, Parinati, Damul, Susman or Aarohan. In 1980, an art movie titled Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai? managed to draw people to the theatres because of its catchy title. In fact, the title became so popular that even today one often finds headlines like Mayawati Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai? in newspapers. Ram Gopal Varma is known for his experimental style of filmmaking. The titles of his movies, too, reflect this originality. Drohi, Raat, Satya, Daud, Company, Ab Tak 56, Ek Haseena Thi, Darna Mana Hai, Gayab, Bhoot are some of his already-released movies. His forthcoming ventures include Vaastu Shastra, Naach and Ek. Dev Anand, who has churned out some of the most insipid movies ever made, mostly gives original titles to his movies (Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Ishk Ishk Ishk, Loot-Maar, Awwal Number, Anand aur Anand, Sau Crore, Main Solah Baras Ki, Sachche Ka Bol Bala, Pyar Ka Tarana, Censor, Gangster, and Love at Times Square). Right now he is busy making Mr Prime Minister. Some time ago he announced he may make Beauty Queen. Now, now... it is another matter that an original title is not always catchy and exciting. If Ram Gopal Varma and Dev Anand have a penchant for original titles, Parmod Chakravorty revels in repeating the titles. Areader once wrote a strongly-worded letter to a reputed magazine lambasting Chakravorty for not taking the trouble of coining new names for his movies. Ironically, the filmmaker later went a step further, repeating one of his own earlier titles (Barood). Rajkumar Kohli followed in his footsteps when he repeated his own title Jaani Dushman for another movie. Two movies with the same title coming from a single production house. Film producers Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla were so possessive about their titles that they would get each of these re-registered every 10 years so that no other person could use it (a title can be registered by any filmmaker 10 years after its original registration). Only the title of Raj Kapoor’s first movie Aag was repeated during his lifetime. Incidentally, the movie names repeated most in the history of Hindi films have been Bhakt Prahlad, Laila Majnu and Heer Ranjha. These have so far been repeated in seven films each. |
CATCHY
titles have often attracted people to the cinema halls, while
unimaginative or dull ones have had the opposite effect.