What's in a name???.... In fact a lot is if you consider the Indian Entertainment Industry - A lot is spent on selecting & promoting the names of the Movies and Television programs than the Movie or the program itself. One of the few things that have grown over the years in the Indian Entertainment Industry is the length of the names. The TV Industry, in particular, has seen a spurt of Sentence-long names. Balaji Telefilms of Ekta Kapoor has undoubtedly been the trend-setter. The virus then spread to news & business channels, channels airing spiritual programs, sports channels and to most others!
There are programs having names which can claim their place in the record books. However, most of these longish names most often challenge the content/ story of the program. A program boasting a name like 'Chal Kahin door Nikal Jayein' may actually be a program addressing problems of old people living in an old-age home somewhere near Thane... and when you thought 'Dhak Dhak Karne laga' to be a celebrity dance based show, you will be shocked to tune in and find it's actually a Health based show primarily dealing with Cardiac problems... you will be forced to believe - What's in a name?
Browsing the listings of television programs & movies on the Entertainment sections of almost all the newspapers is somewhat interesting, time consuming (remember these long names take a fair amount of time to read!) often tiring and at times boring... it not only adds a couple of more pages to our dailies, wastes a lot of precious newsprint, ink and invaluable time of our prized human resources... can we then deduce that it's actually affecting our growth as a nation or may be adding to the pollution levels in most big cities (somebody must have already taken up this research in India- which is another of our favorite pastime!) Here's a glimpse of where our entertainment industry is heading to - 'Ghar ka Chirag' on DD1 is somewhat Ok but what to do with 'Bikhri Aas Nikhri Preet'??... 'Woh Rehne Waali mehlon ki' on Sahara One is probably as spread-out as the Mahal itself... then on Star Network - the famous 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas se tez hain?' and 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge IV'... (panting - Can I have a glass of water please!) .... 'Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi' & 'Kahani ghar ghar ki' are the pioneers... which are now finding a successor in 'Bidai- Sapna Babul ka'... even the established smaller names have added a few more unwanted words to their names... may be out of complex - 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - sangeet ka vishwayuddh' is an apt case in point. Some new channels are boasting of not only longish names but bizarre selection words - for instance 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' on Bindass TV... SAB TV has scored a point with the name 'Lo Ho Gayi Pooja Is Ghar Ki'... I am stressed to think which Pooja & which 'Ghar'??... NDTV Imagine is not lagging far behind with 'Junoon Kuchh Kar Dikhane ka'... please do something with your name first, I beg. Old stalwart Zee's top ranking serials include 'Dulhan... Banoo mein teri' and 'Nagin- Vaadon ki Agnipareeksha'. The new kid on the block '9X' is seemingly providing the best platform to Ekta Didi where she's playing with all sorts of names - 'Kahani Hamare Mahabharat ki' (which I initially thought was another family drama! ... but is actually the Epic with all the weird dialogues and strange casting!)... then they have 'Jai Maa Vaishno Devi' and 'Lux Kaun Jeetga Bollywood ka Ticket'... pata nahin kaun jeetega but somebody will sure get asthmatic or may have Bronchial problems reading the name... another Channel from the 9x Network - 9XM (Music channel) is actually going all out to prove its creative supremacy with names like - '100% Discount', 'Zara Dheere Bol Na', 'Phata Poster, Nikla Hero'... 'Hit me Chhotey', 'Billi Ka Badla', 'Pagal Gane', 'Bakwas-E-ishq' and to top it all ' Kutte Ki Meow'... huhhhh... exhausting... What to comment on Sahara Filmy's 'Meri Bhains ko Anda Kyon Maara?'... its tongue-twisting & tiring even in its abbreviated form - MBKAKM.
Even some Movies are giving a tough competition with sentence-long-names - 'Agnipankh, Sky is not the limit', 'Jodi Kya Banai- Wah Wah Ramji'... 'Sanam Hum Aapke Hain' etc ... there are chances you may fall asleep half way through the name... what to say bout the movie!
Whosoever said what's in a name will find his statement vindicated. Indian entertainment industry is all set to justify his belief - you will end up watching something completely different from what you'd expect from the name... sometimes its intentional so as to let the viewers keep guessing or may be to add some shock-value as O. W. Holmes once said - Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith. Some names are picked only to carry an effect, a feel. Sometimes the names are selected arbitrarily just because the 'namer' doesn't know what to call it - as Stafford Beer said ' I don't know what my dog's real name is but I call him Rover'.
Apart from so many other things in the movie Sholay, I particularly like the line "Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti?"
There are programs having names which can claim their place in the record books. However, most of these longish names most often challenge the content/ story of the program. A program boasting a name like 'Chal Kahin door Nikal Jayein' may actually be a program addressing problems of old people living in an old-age home somewhere near Thane... and when you thought 'Dhak Dhak Karne laga' to be a celebrity dance based show, you will be shocked to tune in and find it's actually a Health based show primarily dealing with Cardiac problems... you will be forced to believe - What's in a name?
Browsing the listings of television programs & movies on the Entertainment sections of almost all the newspapers is somewhat interesting, time consuming (remember these long names take a fair amount of time to read!) often tiring and at times boring... it not only adds a couple of more pages to our dailies, wastes a lot of precious newsprint, ink and invaluable time of our prized human resources... can we then deduce that it's actually affecting our growth as a nation or may be adding to the pollution levels in most big cities (somebody must have already taken up this research in India- which is another of our favorite pastime!) Here's a glimpse of where our entertainment industry is heading to - 'Ghar ka Chirag' on DD1 is somewhat Ok but what to do with 'Bikhri Aas Nikhri Preet'??... 'Woh Rehne Waali mehlon ki' on Sahara One is probably as spread-out as the Mahal itself... then on Star Network - the famous 'Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas se tez hain?' and 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge IV'... (panting - Can I have a glass of water please!) .... 'Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi' & 'Kahani ghar ghar ki' are the pioneers... which are now finding a successor in 'Bidai- Sapna Babul ka'... even the established smaller names have added a few more unwanted words to their names... may be out of complex - 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa - sangeet ka vishwayuddh' is an apt case in point. Some new channels are boasting of not only longish names but bizarre selection words - for instance 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' on Bindass TV... SAB TV has scored a point with the name 'Lo Ho Gayi Pooja Is Ghar Ki'... I am stressed to think which Pooja & which 'Ghar'??... NDTV Imagine is not lagging far behind with 'Junoon Kuchh Kar Dikhane ka'... please do something with your name first, I beg. Old stalwart Zee's top ranking serials include 'Dulhan... Banoo mein teri' and 'Nagin- Vaadon ki Agnipareeksha'. The new kid on the block '9X' is seemingly providing the best platform to Ekta Didi where she's playing with all sorts of names - 'Kahani Hamare Mahabharat ki' (which I initially thought was another family drama! ... but is actually the Epic with all the weird dialogues and strange casting!)... then they have 'Jai Maa Vaishno Devi' and 'Lux Kaun Jeetga Bollywood ka Ticket'... pata nahin kaun jeetega but somebody will sure get asthmatic or may have Bronchial problems reading the name... another Channel from the 9x Network - 9XM (Music channel) is actually going all out to prove its creative supremacy with names like - '100% Discount', 'Zara Dheere Bol Na', 'Phata Poster, Nikla Hero'... 'Hit me Chhotey', 'Billi Ka Badla', 'Pagal Gane', 'Bakwas-E-ishq' and to top it all ' Kutte Ki Meow'... huhhhh... exhausting... What to comment on Sahara Filmy's 'Meri Bhains ko Anda Kyon Maara?'... its tongue-twisting & tiring even in its abbreviated form - MBKAKM.
Even some Movies are giving a tough competition with sentence-long-names - 'Agnipankh, Sky is not the limit', 'Jodi Kya Banai- Wah Wah Ramji'... 'Sanam Hum Aapke Hain' etc ... there are chances you may fall asleep half way through the name... what to say bout the movie!
Whosoever said what's in a name will find his statement vindicated. Indian entertainment industry is all set to justify his belief - you will end up watching something completely different from what you'd expect from the name... sometimes its intentional so as to let the viewers keep guessing or may be to add some shock-value as O. W. Holmes once said - Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith. Some names are picked only to carry an effect, a feel. Sometimes the names are selected arbitrarily just because the 'namer' doesn't know what to call it - as Stafford Beer said ' I don't know what my dog's real name is but I call him Rover'.
Apart from so many other things in the movie Sholay, I particularly like the line "Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti?"
6 comments:
Bingo!!!(not crunchy potato chips yaar!!)u r rite.smbdy will get asthma attack or breathing probs n thts y m not at all bothrd to watch even their 'teasers' (thanx to the person who came up with this term which really fits on these daily soaps, these soaps n their ads realy tease) n as u all know m a patient of nos-bronchial allergy so i cannot take any risk at all.
instead i prefer to watch 'puppets who kill' on bindaas movie channel where u can laugh out like anything all through the show.characters to watch out are "buttons" n "roco".but a warning b4 watchin "u may find some contents of the show as inappropriate n the referral shud not be blaimed for the same" watch 8 ur own risk.
This reminds me of a dialog from the movie Kya kool hain hum where Retiesh's boss tells him: "Shakespeare ne kaha hai what's in the name" and he says: "Sir lekin us line ke baad unhone apna hi naam likha tha!"
upVery well said...........
I completely agree.......The storylines are i'm sure ridiculous, but their names surely take the cake !!!
I wonder what these producers / directors think about their audience at large !!
Rightly said Sameer. Everybody is running for name. I never wanted to comment on ur writing skills as I always admired ur imagination and observation. I just wanted u to be more Sameer like not like typical other weekend writers as I know what u can do. And I think this time u r closer to my thinking but still I want ur comments on some real topics as that is ur forte.
2 gud mate!! sorry am back in India and didnt had net connection at home... so am late in replying but will catch up very soon... enjoy madi!!!
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