Chain Kuli Ki Main Kuli Ki, Fugly, Shamitabh, Jajantaram Mamantaram, Ki and Ka the list goes on...
'The director is Bal-KI and the actress is KA-reena. I am just an 'AND' in between of Ki and Ka,' wisecracked Arjun Kapoor at the trailer launch of his new movie Ki and Ka.
Quite a strange title, don’t you think?
Basically, Ki and Ka stand for ladki (girl) and ladka (boy) in R Balki’s take on role reversal of genders in modern marriages.
A movie title is an audience’s all-important first connect to the subject.
Whether it’s snappy, sensational, clever or bizarre, it’s prime objective is to pique our curiosity.
Some filmmakers pick rather oddball titles to achieve that.
Take a look at recent examples.
Shamitabh
Balki’s 2015 offering Shamitabh is another one of the ilk.
Basically, the title is a blend of ‘sh’ in Dhanush and Amitabh of Amitabh Bachchan as it revolves around the partnership between a mute actor and a voice artist.
Singh is Bliing
We could get Singh is King but Singh is Bling just seems like a contrived attempt at rhyming. Especially when Akshay Kumar plays neither a goldsmith nor Bappi Lahiri in the comedy.
P:S: Did you know the title was suggested by his Brothers producer, Karan Johar?
Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola
Vishal Bhardwaj’s satire featuring Pankaj Kapur, Anushka Sharma and Imran Khan, the media began speculating what the title implies.
Turns out, it’s the name of the three chief protagonists in the movie -- Hukum Singh Matru Sharma, Harphool Singh Mandola and his daughter Bijlee.
PK, Piku, Barfi, R…Rajkumar, Sheen
What do these movie titles have in common?
They’re all peculiar and the name of the central character in the movie.
The abbreviation obsessed!
Choreographer-turned-director Remo D’Souza is obsessed with short form.
His debut F.A.L.T.U stands for Fakirchand and Lakirchand Trust University and ABCD 2 implies Anybody Can Dance, a detail he spelled out in the title of the first film in the franchise.
Just like Umesh Shukla with OMG-Oh My God!
Outside Hindi
Sometimes Bollywood looks outside Hindi for inspiration, and you have titles like Kai Po Che, which is a Gujarati phrase used during a contest of kite flying to proclaim victory or Fukrey, which is Punjabi for slackers.
The Hinglish titles
And then there’s a onslaught of grammar-challenged, cringe-inducing Hinglish titles to boot -- Luv Ka The End, Xcuse Me, U R MY Jaan, Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, Tell Me O Kkhuda, Sooper Se Ooper, The Xpose and The Shaukeens.
The rude titles
Nothing catches instant attention like aggression. Fugly, What The Fish, Ungli, Saala Khadoos are cases in point. Too bad the interest didn’t last beyond the nasties.
Gibberish gobbledygook
Jajantaram Mamantaram, Shakalaka Boom Boom, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Chain Kuli Ki Main Kuli Ki, Dammadamm... who knows what these phrases mean or in what ways they embody the script!
The absolutely random
In complete contrast to lengthy movie titles like Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo or Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, there’s the curt but so-not-crisp randomly titled Boom, Snip, Oops! Sshhh…,Stop, Straight, Timepass, Topless and Sandwich.
