Bollywood’s newest tactic involves changing a film’s title just before its release. Numerous Senas and organisations have also recently engaged in needless violence and protested movie titles. While some voices seem legitimate, others went so far as to threaten Bollywood stars.Some filmmakers believe that altering the title of a film or announcing a new release date will increase excitement. Here are 11 Bollywood films that underwent name changes in order to avoid further controversy or to garner more attention.
1. Roohi
About four title changes have been made to the film. The film was originally titled Rooh Afza, but the director changed the name to Roohi Afzana due to copyright issues with the average brand. It has finally been fixed to Roohi after a few changes. Hardik Mehta is the director of the horror-comedy, which centres on a ghost ride. It tells the tale of a ghost that kidnaps newlyweds while they are on their honeymoon.
2. Haseena Parker
The movie with Shraddha Kapoor in it was formerly known as Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai. The director changed the movie before it was released in addition to announcing the new release date. Since this was a biography, the director Apoorva Lakhia thought it would be best to use Haseena Parker’s name directly. We changed the title of the movie because it’s a biography and we thought it would be better for people outside of Mumbai to learn about Haseena Parkar since she was well known there but not elsewhere.
3. Laxmmi
After receiving complaints from various Hindu organisations, the Akshay Kumar starrer’s producers decided to change the film’s title. The movie, which also features Kiara Advani, was originally scheduled to premiere on big screens during Eid. Instead, it was released on an OTT platform. Hindu Sena, a right-wing organisation, had earlier written to Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar to emphasise how its supporters would boycott the film nationwide. This led to the name change. Then, other Hindu organisations propagated the idea that doing so “shows disrespect to the goddess.”
4. Billu
The title of the film was Billu Barber. It goes without saying that the barber community came together as a result of the association’s claims that the title offended them. Irrfan Khan plays a struggling barber who visits his famous friend SRK.
5. Padmavat
Deepika Padukone received a threat from the Rajput Karni Sena to have her nose amputated as a result of the significant controversy this caused. Padmavati was eventually changed to Padmavat for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical drama movie. When it was released, the movie garnered a lot of media attention. The film was released on the big screen and received a tonne of love and a strong box office performance despite the set being destroyed once in Jaipur and Deepika being threatened with physical violence the other time.
6. Judgemental Hai Kya
Mental Hai Kya was the original title of the Kangana Rao and Rajkummar Rao film. However, a number of organisations and therapists banded together to persuade the show’s creators to alter it. “I was definitely game. There are some individuals who struggle with it. We regard their feelings. Rajkummar Rao had previously stated, “We are more than happy to do that if they believe that changing the title will bring about some change in the society.
7. Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela
The movie was criticised in a petition for allegedly offending religious sensibilities. Many believed that because the name Ram Leela is connected to Lord Ram, moviegoers would mistake this for a religious movie, which it is not.
8. Loveyatri
The previous name of the book was Loveratri. The VHP, however, claimed that it “distorts the meaning of the Hindu festival.” The movie’s producer, Salman Khan, had previously stated, “If people have a problem with the current title of the film Loveyatri, we’ll change that too and release it as an untitled film.”
9. Veer Zara
Film’s original title was Yeh Aa Gaye Hum Kaha. However, Veer Zara, in Yash Chopra’s opinion, fit the tone of the movie better. Although there was no controversy, the title change was made to draw in more viewers.
10. Tamasha
Imtiaz Ali, a renowned filmmaker, previously made intriguing revelations regarding the titles of his films. He claimed that Love Aaj Kal was originally known as Elastic. He even revealed that the original working title for Jab We Met was Train. The group was debating the name Window Seat for Tamasha.It appears that Imtiaz always desired English movie titles and ultimately chose Imtiaz was therefore considering English titles for the majority of his films before settling on Hindi ones. Deepika jokingly remarked, “So it would be like Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone were in Elastic,” when he revealed that Love Aaj Kal was originally called Elastic.