What’s in a name?
iView Author:
Neil Patel (Mumbai, India)
Email:
NPatelBollywood [at] Gmail [dot] com
What’s in a name?
How important is a film title? I think it is very important, not to mention promos, marketing, stars all factor in as well. I am a very commercial film watching type of guy, though I am not opposed to watching a non commercial film if it good. (go watch khuda ke liye)
I was looking at the indiafm’s list of films coming this year. (by far not a complete list, but a list of the bigger films)
The list is here
I figured I would write about this list of films and why I would want to watch them or not? Will I buy a ticket for first day first show or watch the DVD?
Maybe some of you guys can use the things in my head for writing, promoting, marketing, naming…. your next film. There are films that are coming at the end of the year that I already want to watch, and others that come out in the next couple of weeks that I have not even heard of! This can help filmmakers by telling them what assumptions are going through my head, as well as others.
*(Opinions about certain movies may change closer to release time when promos pick up, or after review come out, but I still think this maybe helpful to people trying to figure out what certain audience members look for are expecting. Point in case, Bhool Bhoolaiya. I like most people thought Akshay Kumar, Rajpal Yadav, Priyadarshan… out and out comedy, which it wasn’t. I think it could have made more money, but didnt due to preconceived perceptions.)
*I am not reviewing details about any of these films for this writeup, I am going only by what I can recall, so you know how well the marketing of the movies has worked or not. Truly one of the keys of filling the seats for a films is making sure the audience knows your film exists.
I will start with Jannat, even though it was already released but I have not watched it….
Jannat
I was intrigued by this film when I first heard about it. The whole idea of gambling and cricket seemed interesting. I figured I would watch in theaters. The reviews changed my mind. But I still belive I will watch the DVD, because something about still intrigues me. Title is Ok, doesnt reveal too much to me, I do not see a clear relationship with what I think this movie is about.
Don Muthuswami
I just saw a poster of this film on the rickshaw ride home today. Has Mithun in it. There is not enough here to intrigue me. Will not watch it. The title is just that name of the don in the film, I assume. All I expect is another don movie, I need more, or something not the same.
Ghatothkach
Never heard of it before. Wont watch. I’m half ABCD, so this title has no meaning to me.
Hastey-Hastey
Title makes me think this is a comedy or a light love story. I am not sure if it is this film, but I think Rajpal Yadav is in this with a triple role. So probably a comedy. I doubt the presence of other big stars, or I would have probably known. Wont watch, unless somebody else goes to watch it first and tells me nice things.
Woodstock Villa
Title tells me nothing, but I know this is White Feathers + Hansal Metha and introducing Sikander Kher. I will probably give this a skip as I am not intrigued by it. There probably will be a guns and stuff in this movie, but I have no other expectations.
Zindagi Tere Naam
First time I am hearing of this film, probably a love story. Wont watch it, unless a miracle happens.
Aamir
I think all the actors in this film are new, but I honestly remember reading about how they shoot in crowded areas with hidden cameras and other minor things, or like how the actor did makeup in the street or something. But the one promo I have seen for it has been enough to intrigue me to watch this. I probably will buy a ticket to see this over its weekend run, unless it gets blasted by Tashaan-like reviews before that.
Humsey Hai Jahaan
Never heard of it. I understand the title, but dont have a clue what this film will be about, and probably will not watch it unless they pay Taran Adarsh to write an amazing review for it and I bother to read his review on this film.
Sarkar Raj
This one is a first day first show. I have been wanting to watch this since forever, you have the Bachchan clan and I enjoyed the first one, the promo looks awesome. The key here is, the first one is good, I assume the second one will be too. Also I heard about this film a while ago, so there is time for the expectations to build up.
Khushboo
I think I saw a promo for this. Do not recall who is in it but I think love story or a fart(sorry bad joke). Yet again, this one will need some reviews to make me watch it at all.
Mere Baap Pehle Aap
I will most likly buy a ticket and go watch this, pending an OK review. As long as it is not crap I will watch. Paresh Rawal, Akshaye Khanna, I see me laughing at a story about a guy trying to get his dad to marry first. Priyadarshan + the revealing title, I expect a good timepass film.
Summer 2007
Sikander Kher’s in this. This movie is about summer last year??? No expectations, I dont know nothing about it. There will be an empty seat without my name on it.
I can talk about the rest of the films down the list if you guys find it the least bit helpful, just let me know! I think it can be a helpful lesson in marketing for many. Creativity is needed in film making, but it has to be viable for an audience, whatever your target audience is. Until next time…
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
I totally agree with Neil here when it comes to 1st impressions about the movies above
Woodstock Villa:
I am not gonna watch it and I’ve a strong feeling it won’t get more than one star by any leading reviewers… The thing is that I saw “Dus Kahaaniyan”… And in that there’s a short film called “High on the Highway” which was probably the worst short film I’d ever seen. Not even a sentence was good. They say “Even a stopped clock is right 2 times a day…” But hey… nothing abt this film is right…nothing.
Aamir:
Rajeev Khandelwal uh… When Kahiin to hoga aired I was in 10th I guess… And I’ve seen almost 95% of its episodes . Didn’t like it… but my mom saw and it was definitely better than doing trigonometry. “Sujal” that’s our khandelwal guy was someone with not more than 3 expressions and same tonal quality… But since the character itself was like that… He was good.
Then his hosting stint with Deal Ya No Deal was strictly okay… not bad… not bad at all.
Now in this Aamir movie, which to me seems inspired from Joel Schumacher’s “Phonebooth”… he doesn’t impress in the promos… Maybe because Colin Farrell acted brilliantly in phonebooth and I’ve seen that movie almost 5 times…
But like you said if it doesn’t get Tashan like reviews… I’ll watch it.
Sarkar Raj:
That “Jalwa’ song really looks good.
And then there’s jaane tuu… ya jaane na…
2 songs out and am already sure that this movie is something I will see… Abbas tyrewalla who has written dialogues (really good dialogues) for movies like Munnabhai MBBS and Main hoon naa… looks extremely talented to me.
Plus, Onir’s Sorry Bhai and that “Love Story 2050″ look interesting… I hope they don’t westernise LS2050 too much… Masala entertainer with Robots and all should make for a good looksie..
October looks to be a kick-ass month. Brilliant.
More than names, it’s the trailers that matter.
half abdc or not Neil, if you are gonna make a decision based on the title god help u :-)
There was a movie with title ‘Michael Madhana Kama Rajan”- it tells you the damn story there and it looked so unattractive for a title – something that sounded like the 70s Telugu Mythological – “Dhaana soora vera karna” *ing NTR. But the movie was an unforgettable experience. If we always start juding the book by its cover, we will only be reading Real estate guides and restaurant menus all life.
I think the title of a film is as important as the title of a book! Isn’t that what makes the average person stop and take notice of either?! To missname a film is as damaging as missnaming a novel. Except, as Doremi pointed out, a film has a trailer to add – or subtract in certain cases – to the excitement.
As far as “Bhool Bhoolaiya”, I too was expecting a farcical comedy, which might explain why I ended up disliking the film: it simply didn’t pan out as planned?! Like craving Chinese food and then eating Italian…
Anyway, Neil, good points and thanks for the “previews” of upcoming attractions!
I think I am little confused.
So you are trying to decide whether to watch the movies based on their titles.
But then you decide to watch Sarkar Raj or Aamir because you already know something about the cast or the way its shot.
In that case, even if the name of the movie was Raja Harishchandra instead of Aamir, you would have watched anyways, no?
Its the whole package, not just title… but title has an effect, as well as star cast, and story. If the film was titles Raja Harishchandra, I don’t know if I would watch it. The title Aamir intrigues me to click on links and read more about, which makes me learn more about it, factors that maybe i would have not known if the title has been Raja Harishchandra.