Funny Titles, Long Titles, Movieland Is Freaking Out

Art form, individualistic self-expression, a vehicle for propaganda and articulating causes and concern regarding the human condition or just sheer unadulterated, full-on, entertainment for the masses … movies have always been a significant part of people’s lives. However, with competition and choices, targeting and grabbing the viewers’ eyeballs and wallets – has got increasingly tougher with newer gimmicks, masala and tricks deployed by the sharp movie marketer to zap the choosy, bored or reluctant movie-goer. The latest in B-town is freaky titles.

Gone are the days of straight and meaningful titles like Daag, Duniya, Shakti, Footpath, Mela, Taal … it’s the age of Oye Lucky Oye, Love Sex and Dhoka - and if you don’t like these titles, Sorry Bhai! Recent masterpieces include Horn Ok Please, Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai, Dhundte Reh Jaoge, Kusar Prasad Ka Bhoot, Raat Gayee Baat Gayee, EMI, Bheja Fry, No Entry, Welcome, Houseful, Malamal Weekly, Apna Sapna Money Money, Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal, God Tussi Great Ho … a zillion more are set to follow. While the puritans are horrified [“Have they completely lost it? The titles don’t make sense! These are stupid products of deranged and illiterate minds! Oye Lucky … this is really too much!”]  Movie-trackers are cool. “It’s a sign of the times. In a competitive and cluttered market with every release turning on their special ploys to promote the film in the battle of audience-curiosity, attention and ticket-sale, every USP is legit and fare. Besides the audience that decides which films will click, reside in the age group of 15-30 and they are totally cool with these titles … so what’s wrong with Pyaar Ke Side Effects? Dil Kabaddi, ho jaye!”

Across the seas, our baap, Hollywood too has taken a new and exciting leap in the titles game. What have they done? Elongated their titles! Since sequels are a popular disease and 3-D offerings, the new fad – why not join the two? What’s the khichdi? Shrek Forever After: An Imax 3D experience; Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time; Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore; The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. In many instances, say experts, these are done from an eagerness to ride on a brand that already has rocked the market. The Prince of Persia [for example] is based on a very popular video game. Exceptions, however, are movies for which the genre is more important than the content. Clarifies a film critic: “People go to horror movies not for the story but to be scared. For this lot, chill thrills!” So titles like SQ VII is perfectly appropriate.

Not everyone in tinsel town, however, is thrilled by this elongation name. Like in Bollywood, there is dissent there too. Respected Marketing Consultant Denis Rice – who’s held top posts at UA, Disney and Miramax – believes “that this route can be dangerous, because the more a title describes a story, the less effective it generally is. Sure, you want people to know what they are getting but you also want to leave them wanting to learn more … evoke curiosity to generate interest.” He also believes it comes in the way of taking up too much time in a 15 sec TV spot and too much space in outdoor displays and publicity. The backlash has begun and some studios are returning to the old fashioned short n’ sweet titles. Salt, an Angelina Jolie thriller and Inception, directed by Chris Nolan are at least two of the born-again species … but hey, they haven’t given up! Two thumpers – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Trader and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – are comin’ up very soon to grace your friendly, neighbourhood screens! In the end, short title, long title, funny title … what matters is, have you got [oye] lucky at the BO?!