Hit titles

In Bollywood, originality is hard to come by and rip offs are often disguised at 'take-offs' or 'inspired' flicks. And while film plots can disguise behind this thin veil of dishonesty, movie titles cannot. It seems that Indian filmmakers, too exhausted from making their movies, cannot be bothered to think of new film names. Instead, they just depend on old hit film songs to fill in that space on the movie posters - hoping that the track's success might rub off on the movie. We take a look at 10 such unoriginal titles.

Soumita Sengupta/ Hill Road Media

Kajra Re
The words immediately bring a picture of Aishwarya, Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan dancing in the film Bunty Aur Babli (2005). But that happy picture is soon to be distorted. Himesh Reshmiyaan is to announce his film titled Kajra Re within a few days. We can't wait to see if he'll release his own version of the song.

Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke (1993)
One of the earlier films to borrow its name from an old hit song, this flick took from the soundtrack of Nau Do Gyarah (1957) starring Dev Anand in 1957. The film is directed by Mahesh Bhatt and stars Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008)
If the outspoken Aamir Khan can't think of an original name for his film, Bollywood is surely in a sorry state. Just mention the words Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and you can't help up sing along to the lyrics Tera Mujhse hai pahle ka nata koi..yuhi nahi dil lubhata koi… jane tu ya jaane na from the film Aa Gale Lag Ja (1973) featuring Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore. And Aamir Khan thought the name suitable for his production house's first film staring his nephew and debutant Imran Khan along with Genilia D'Souza. This film went on to become a hit.

Om Shanti Om (2007)
Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om launched a new face with Deepika Padukone as its lead heroine however, the freshness ended there. The movie's title as well as its theme was from Subhash Ghai's Karz (1980). The former being from the hit song Om Shanti Om, shot on main protagonist Rishi Kapoor. In Farah's version of the song, she went all out and roped in 30 stars to dance to her tune and Om Shanti Om became a big hit.

Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008)
Kishore Kumar sang the celebrated number in Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (1977) for Rishi Kapoor and more than 30 years later Rishi's son Ranbir starred in a film by the same name. Ranbir was seen romancing Bollywood beauties Bipasha Basu, Minisha Lamba and his off-screen partner Deepika Padukone. The same song also featured as a title track of the movie and was as much of a hit as it was in the '70s.

Kambakht Ishq (2009)
The soon to be released Kambakht Ishq borrows its name from a song from the well known Urmilla Mantodkar-Fardeen Khan starrer Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001). And the film Kambakht Ishq promises an even hotter pairing of Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. What shot the track to fame was Urmilla's fabulous sequence for it. We are yet to see whether Kareena and the movie will do justice to the track that lent the film its name.

Aa Dekhe Zara (2009)
Well known as the tune Sanjay Dutt grooved to in the film Rocky (1981), the recently released film Aa Dekhe Zara starred Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu. And it's not just the song title that Jehangir Surti has nicked for his film but the entire hit song.

Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001)
The hit film, directed by Karan Johar, featured Bollywood's biggest stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor. Even so, Karan could not bother to think of an original title for the big budget flick and he borrowed from the movie Baaton Baton Mein's (1979) track Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum, Tara Rum Pum Pum Haso Aur Hasaaya Karo.

Tara Rum Pum (2007)
The title was borrowed from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum, Tara Rum Pum Pum Haso Aur Hasaaya Karo from the famous film Baaton Baton Mein (1979), featuring Amol Palekar and Tina Moni which was such a huge hit that people still hum its catchy tune. On the other hand, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee went no where in this car racing flick directed by Kunal Kohli. The reason Kunal decided on the unusual name for the film: well, he just couldn't think of anything else.

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so true!!! bollywood had lost its appeal with films titled as kaminey? lol n 3 idiots...wat can we look forward to?

Yeh some interesting titles K3G, BAH and JTYJN are my favourites.