Gumnaam se Ghajini tak :The evolution of Hindi movie titles
To me, one of the best things I like about Hindi movies is their title.
As a kid I always tried to guess about the plot, hero and the general reason behind the title. What is the plot of Saudagar ? Why is some are Khuddar but some are Khudgarz ? Who sacrificed what in Qurbaani ? Under what circumstances Albert Pinto ko gussa kyun aata hai ? Obviously I did not have better things to think about, during those laid back days of 70’s & 80’s. So, I simply loved movie titles & their fonts. While fonts are a huge subject altogether, let me present my interpretations on the various types of titles in this post. As this is my first post in PFC, request readers to grin & bear the (inadvertent) factual errors. Also I don’t claim to have seen even 20% of the movies listed here. I got few of the names from wiki database.
If I am asked to generally categorize the interesting Hindi movie titles, I would try as follows-
Single Word– Probably the most universal concept to title a movie to have the maximum impact. Anand, Safar, Khamoshi, Sholay, Karma, Deewar, Karz, Dostana, Sagar, Betab, Kaalia, Bobby, Mili etc are gems from the yesteryears. A single word is simple, beautiful and can be used to express multiple meanings simultaneously. Sometimes it’s the main protagonist of the film (Madhumati, Chandni, Iqbal), sometimes it represents the main emotion of the film (Dhoka, Dhamkee, Milan, Pareeksha, Parvarish). Can you think of any other name for the movie Khilona or Masoom or Gumnaam ? However this style was most prevalent during 70’s & 80’s superhits and faded during the 90’s. Few titles are Ashiqui, Daud, Satya for romance, humour and gangster genre which I liked a lot, respectively. Ghulam, Yuvraaj, Fashion, Aamir, Jannat, Tashan, Sarkar are few of latest with one word wonder. There are few movies which I have not seen but has amazingly intriguing single word titles- Loha, Jallad, Charas.
Two Word - The most interesting cases are when, one word were necessarily an adjective and the other a noun. Few quick examples are Jaali Note, Toote Khilone, Lal Pari, Kala admi, Amar Prem, Kala bazaar, Naya paisa, Purana Mandir, Junglee Jawani, Amar prem, Andha kanoon, Ajeeb Ladki, Safed Jhuth, Kaala paani, Oonche Log, Chhoti Ma, Bade Bhai, chhoti Bahen, Badi Didi, Jehreela Insaan, Udan khatola, Safed Haathi, Black Friday, Roadside Romeo. Then we have twin words like Sachha Jootha, Asli Naqli, Heera Panna, Heere Moti, Laila Mahnu, Sohni Mahiwal, Naram Garam, Raja rani, Daana pani, Ma, baap, Baap Beta, Chacha Bhatija, Gauri Shankar, Jodha Akbar, Ram Balram, Ghar Sansar, Jung Bahadur, Naag Champa, Karan Arjun, Ram Lakhan. Few rare examples of repeat word titles are Dance Dance, Bhai Bhai, Khoon Khoon, Fifty fifty, Zindagi Zindagi, Chupke Chupke and rarest Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. Multilingual two word titles deserve a special category and thus mentioned separately below.
Three word - Out of all I like the two words necessarily divided by “Ki”, “ka” and “Aur”. I simply adore the first two segment. The titles itself are so exciting! Hindi cinema were ruled by ‘X ki Y’ titled movies. Yaadon Ki Baraat, Barsaat ki raat, Mehlon Ke Khwab, Mohabbat ki Jeet, Kashmir Ki Kali, Jawani ki Hawa, Shadi ki raat, Aaj Ki Baat Alladin Ka chirag, Kagaaz ka phool, Chaudvin ka chand, Baghdad Ka Chor, Choron Ka Chor, Sapno Ka Saudagar, Pathhar Ke Sanam, Raaton ka Raja, Man Ki Aankhen, Haathi Ke Daant, Sone Ki Chidiya, Bhabhi ki Chuudiyaan, Pyaar Ka Mandir, Zamane ki Hawa, Gaon ki kahani, Khatron ka Khiladi, Pyar ka saya, Ghar Ka Chirag Gunahon Ka Devta, Daulat ki Jung, Insaniyat ka Dushman, Insaaf ka tarazoo, Dudh ka Karz, Man ka meet, kamal ke phool, Raampur Ka Lakshman, Aaj ki awaz, Kal Ki Awaaz, Muqaddar ka Sikander, Khosla ka ghosla….and the list can go on & on. I was amazed to see Amrita Singh had acted in number of such movies.- Kal Ki Awaz (1992), Pyaar Ka Saaya (1991), Paap Ki Aandhi (1991), Aag Ka Dariya (1990), Maut Ke Farishtey (1990), Galiyon Ka Badshah (1989), Sachai Ki Taqat (1989), Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986)….whoa !
The ‘aur’ used to be obvious tales of twins, siblings, friends or simply things in life- Ram aur Shyam, Seeta aur Geeta, Gora aur kala, Shola aur Shabnam, Reshma aur Shera, Raat aur din, Purav aur paschim, Phool aur Kaante .
I know of only few repeat word title in this category- ‘Love Love love’ by Aamir Khan which ideally should fall under Phoren catagory. Other than that Ishq ishq ishq and cha cha cha also fits the 3 x names !
Angrezi – Honeymoon, International Crook, Blackmail, Boy friend, Paying Guest, Miss Goodnight, Son of Sindbad, College Girl, Girl friend, Boy friend The Train, Coffee House, Girl’s Hostel, Flat No 9, Road No 303, Post Box 999, House No 44, Qaidi No. 911, Victoria No 203, Taxi No 9211, Dark Street, Singapore, Superman Loafer, Professor, Officer, Bank Manager, Police Detective, Jailor, Killer, Leader, Commander, Guide, Jewel Thief, Smuggler, Bluffmaster, Taxi Driver, Riding Hero, Fighting Queen, The Burning Train, Red , Black, Blue Umbrella, Rock On – Is there any way you can make out these are Hindi movies ? But surely, hindi movies with angrezi names have a different flavour altogether. They have this western feel with a desi plot. For some weird reason 1958-59 has series of Angrezi named Hindi fims- 12 O clock, Taxi 555, Taxi Stand, Ten O’Clock , Trolley Driver, Virsa and the Magic Doll, Guest House, Mr. Q, Dr. Z, The World Dances !
I dunno why, but Footpath, Boot Polish, Half ticket, Howrah Bridge, Mr & Mrs 55, Mr. X in Bombay, An evening in Paris, Love in Tokyo, Great Gambler, Tarzaan, Disco Dancer, Love Story, Love Marriage, Honeymoon Travel Pvt Ltd, Johny Walker, Red Rose, King Uncle, Plan, Race, Army, Yes Boss, Duplicate, Shootout at Lokhandwala, No Smoking, Dasvidaniya, Woodstock Villa, Kidnap, Jungle, Contract, No entry sounds very Hindi to me !
Multilingual- There’s also multi lingual titles as an offspring of English Babu Desi Mem (pun intended)- Hunterwali, Reporter Raju, Garam Coat, Johny meera naam, Raju ban gaya gentleman, Mera naam joker, International Khiladi, Johnney Gaddar, Manorama 6 feet under.
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye ! falls under multilingual repeat word titles (very very rare). Satyajit Ray in one of his feluda stories ( Bombaier bombete) named a Hindi masala movie as Jet Bahadur !!!
Long – Now there are titles which are four word long or more. Normally these are most self explanatory & simple to understand phrases or sentences. Some of such
Albert Pinto ko gussa kyun aata hai, Paap ko jalaakar rakh kar doonga, Jal Bin Machli, N ritya Bin Bijili, Yeh Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai, Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye, Jis desh me ganga behta hai, Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere, Door Gagan Ki Chaon Mein, Jallianwalla Baag Ki Jyoti, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche, Salim Langde pe mat ro, Roop ki rani choron ka raja, Hum hai rahi pyar ke, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Kasam Paida karne wale ki, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, Lal Dupatta mal mal ka, Aab tumhare hawalu watan saathiyon, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahi, Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani, Rehna hai tera dil mein, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Dilwale Dulhaniya le jayenge, Main meri patni aur who, Rama rama kya hai yeh drama, Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, My name is Anthony Gonsalves, Kabhi socha bhi na tha, Is raat ki subah nahin, Ek Chalis ki Last local, Jaane tu ya jaane na, Rab ne bana di jodi.
It is interesting to note, most of the recent long named movies are taken from the songs from yesteryear’s hit songs lyrics. Kabhi Alvida na Kehna may not be that long, but sounds like one!
Hybrid – An interesting hybrid of long and multilingual title is explanatory titles. There is one word in one language and it is explained by a phrase in another language in the title itself. Example- Baaz: A Bird in Danger, Dhund: The Fog, Qayamat: City Under Threat, Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula, Samay: When Time Strikes, Talaash: The Hunt Begins…,
This is observed to be a much recent trend and 2005 was rich with such names. Dosti: Friends Forever, Double Cross – Ek Dhoka, Home Delivery: Aapko… Ghar Tak, Jalwa – Fun in Love, Kisna: The Warrior Poet, Lucky: No Time for Love ( remember Sneha ullal?), Pehchaan: The Face of Truth, Sauda – The Deal, Viruddh… Family Comes First, Waqt: The Race Against Time, Mangal Pandey: The Rising…………..
Short – The shortest words in Hindi are 3 letter words- Aks, Aag, Dor. Otherwise they are necessarily English & abbreviated ones – LOC, CID.
Numeric – This is one of the rarest. I can remember only 1920 as one of the recent films with numeric tiles. Do aur Do paanch ( 2+2=5), Nau Do gyarah (9 2 11), Ek do teen (123), Do doni Chaar ( 2 x 2= 4) are all numbers but written in words , but can be listed under this category.
Villainous – After watching Ghajini, I was trying to remember if I have seen any other film where the title is dedicated to the name of the movie’s villain. I could not remember for any Hindi films at least. There are few movie titles which do depict negative emotions like Krodh and Junoon, but not named after villain.
If we use the similar concept of Ghajini for giving a movie name and change the name of few known Hindi films, the outcome would be like this-
Gabbar (Sholay), Sir Juda (Karz), Shakaal ( Shaan), Dr. Dang (Karma), Mogambo (Mr. India), Maharani (Sadak), Balwant Rao (Ghayal), Loin ( Kalicharan), JK (Shahenshah), Anna (Parinda), Kancha Cheena (Agneepath), Sher Khan (Zanzeer), Pinky (Daud), Katya – (Ghatak), Langda Tyagi- (Omkara), Pinky (Daud)
Durga (Jungle), Amavas (Jallad), Dyslexia (Taare Zameen Par)…………
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Hmm Sanjoy, welcome to PFC, glad to see u here. Interestign first post.
One more category- Movie titles based on popular hit songs.
Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge, Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya, Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar, Koi Mil Gaya, Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke, Dil Kya Kare as far as i can recollect for now.
Speaking of long titles, V.Shantaram seemed to have this penchant for such things.
Do Aankhen Baarah Haath
Geet Gaaya Patharon Ne
Jal Bin Machli, Nruthya Bin Whatever
@ flyinelefant: great effort. when i was in kollege someone said that there is a movie wid a name – Mere dost ki biwi truck driver ke saath bhaag agyi… is dat true?
@ MAGIK,
Mere dost ki… was released in 84 and was directed by B.R. Ishara.
Which reminds me that BR Ishara also made a film called Rahu Ketu, which had the villians’ names as its title. Rahu and Ketu were played by Prem Nath and Pran respectively. The hero was shashi kapoor.
Which reminds me that BR Ishara also made a film called Rahu Ketu, which had the villians’ names as its title. Rahu and Ketu were played by Prem Nath and Pran respectively. The hero was shashi kapoor. So Ghajini is not a standalone title.
One correction Sher Khan was not the bad guy in Zanzeer, it was Teja, played by Ajit’s character.
Also there was a movie called Shin Shinaki Babla Boo, have no clue about it, but a trivia is there of it being the first Hindi movie to get an A certificate.
@Ratna- Thanks dude.It’s you who got me here. I did mention about song lyrics under the long names but it looks like they deserve a separate category altogether :D
Thanks for the valuable additions & trivia about babla boo ! Even I have no clue about it !
@Magic- I haven’t heard about “Mere dost ki biwi truck driver ke saath bhaag agyi” but I have heard about a Punjabi movie called “Chaddi Utar Gayee”. Imagine what would be the name if RGV remakes it……:-\
@Jitesh- wow ! That’s how it is to be in PFC! Samajhdar ko “ishara’ kafi hota hai….:)
@Jitesh- Thanks ! I have no choice but to agree about Rahu Ketu. In the same concept the forthcoming ‘Ravana’ would fall on the same category too !
Also all those Dil, Pyaar, Ishq, Vishq, Mohabbat titles and their various permutation, combinations.
Saawan Kumar Tak had this Souten fetish, Souten, Souten Ki Beti, Souten ki Maa, i guess the only thing left was Souten Ki Souten.
Some movie makers have a fetish for starting with certain alphabets, while Rakesh Roshan and KJo’s K fixation is well known, there are others
with A fixation.
Rakesh Roshan’s sasur J.Om Prakash had this ‘A’ fixation- Aaye Milan Ki Bela, Aaye Din Bahar Ke, Aaya Saawan Jhoom Ke, Aandhi, Aap Ki Kasam, Apnapan, Aasha, Aas Paas.
Interestingly the song “Ute Sab Ki Kadham” from the movie Baaton Baaton Mein, contributed to two movie titles, “Ta Ra Rum Pum” and “Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum”.
Also most of AB’s hit movies have had repeat titles, but interestingly none of them were succesful.
Zanjeer- You had one Zanjeer in the 90’s, but movie was a total washout.
Deewar- AB himself starred in that 2004 movie, which was Deewar-Lets Bring our Heroes home, but again the movie was a dud.
Hera Pheri- The original one starring AB and Vinod Khanna was a rollicking entertainer, and of course the Priyan one is a classic.
Laawaris- The original version was a huge hit, the other Laawaris starring Akshaye Khanna and Manisha K, was a complete no go.
Naseeb- Again the original was a huge success, the other Naseeb starring Govinda and Mamta Kulkarni, was a total disaster.
Yaarana- This Madhuri-Rishi rehash of Sleeping with Enemy, was a no show at the BO.
Dyslexia (TZP).. haha…
I remember B.R. Ishara as the director of Rahu-Ketu, Sautela Pati, and many such cheesy movie titles plus discoverer of Pravin Babi but no clue whatsoever whether he made a movie called Mere Dost Ki Biwi Truck Driver Ke Saath Bhaag Gayee … Kya aisi koi movie thi?
Interesting article…..u remind me of Monica from FRIENDS
@Ratna- You are opening a Pandora’s Box ! ‘Keywords’ are very important in Hindi movie titles. Like Dil, Pyar, Souten we have Kasam, Raat etc. Ofcourse how can we forget the ‘Jawani’ series. Thanks for more trivias. The post is much enriched. Somehow I can’t get over the explanatory titles……Deewar-Lets Bring our Heroes home! Daag- the fire! (Though ideally Aag- the fire seems linguistically correct).
@Oxy- Well, it calls for a discussion from Magik & Jitesh, as I have no idea about Ishara or his Truck Driver
@avn- As am not into TV serials so I had to wiki about that Monica to find out that you meant “Control Freak” ! Let me take it as a compliment, before any other interpretations.
Cheers!
~fe~
One more category could be included…that of ‘double entendres’. Though rare, a few apt examples could still be found.
@ Prof – Are you hinting towards titles like “Haath-i mera Saathi?” ;-)
Give us more.
You mean “Andheri Raat mein Diya Tere Haath mein”? :D
From that perspective ‘Teesra kaun?’ sounds pretty suggestive.
I think most of those hybrid titles are a result of copyright issues. Since titles like Rules, Dhund, Talaash probably have valid copyrights, the makers probably add the English subtitle to keep it unique and register as a ‘new’ movie title. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong …
Why, ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ sounds as if it has multiple meanings. And ‘Jism’? It definitely is a terribly double meaning word ;-)
awesome post. Nice to see “Jet Bahadur”. Typical “Codopyrin” masala film!
And then we had a series of flims by Arjun Hingorani who had a penchant for 3 Ks – Kahani Kismat Ki, Kab Kyon Kahan, Kaatilon Ke Kaatil, Khel Khilari Ka…all with Dharmendra
Quite interesting article and discussion.
i m lovin it!
@ Partik- Quite possible. Though I don’t know what’s the reason exactly. But the outcome can’t be funnier. “Dhund: The Fog”, as if someone may confuse it with Icecream. *huh*
@Prof- Hmmm. But Jism is pretty straight forward title like ‘Hawas’, ‘Paap’ etc. Titles like “Kisme Kitna hai Dum” sounds challenging & naughty, though.
@RoodRow- Thanks dude. Happy you noticed finer details.
@ YKS- Sure. I think this topic has tremendous research potential. Khiladi series, No-1 series are also worth mentioning.
Cheers!
~fe~
There are many movie titles related to places like,
Mumbai meri jaan,bombay to goa,bambai ka babu,delhi 6, delhibelly,rampur ka lakshman,shoot out at lokhandwala etc.
Khiladi series-
Khiladi
Sabse bada Khiladi
Khiladi No. 1
Khatron ka Khiladi( Dharmendra & Sons)
International Khiladi
Khiladiyo ka Khiladi
Main khiladi tu Anari.
Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi
Khiladi 420
Most of the Khiladi is played by Akshay Kumar and once he was called Akshay “Khiadi” kumar.
No 1 series-
Coolie No 1
Biwi No 1
Khiladi No 1
Jodi No 1
Hero No 1
Aunty No 1
Anari No 1
Beti No 1
Most of the No 1 is ruled by Govinda.
Ideally then, Khiladi No 1 should have featured both Govinda & Akshay. But Hindi movie industry does’nt run on such simple logic I guess !
@ Bharat Bhusan- yes indeed. Calcutta Mail, Namstey London, Love in Tokyo, Evening in paris, Welcome to Sajjanpur are various examples.
To be a little more precise, many titles are in the format
Bombay to Bangkok
Chandichowk to China
Thanks for the inputs
cheers!
~fe~
Thanks for the great article, it makes my task of coming up with good movie titles easier.
Hi, read your post and frankly much better researched and written then what I have done. I just picked out one small drop from the vast ocean… Nice post though and damn good for being a first… Cheers!
Hey Joni,
Thanks for reading and commenting man. Hope to interact more on PFC.
Cheers!