SR: Happy Onam, aliya ! Isn’t this a big time for movie releases in Kerala, just like Deepavali and Pongal here? So, what have you caught among the latest releases da ?
VM: Happy Onam saare ! You’re right… Onam has always been the biggest weekend for films. This year wasn’t any different, with Mohanlal ( Oppam ), Prithviraj ( Oozham ), and Dileep ( Welcome to Central Jail ) competing with each other. I could only catch the first two as Welcome to… didn’t release in Chennai. For me, there’s something incomplete about Onam if I don’t watch the latest Dileep comedy…
SR:Welcome to Central Jail is the only film that sounds Malayalam in this list! Yes, I meant that sarcastically. What’s this obsession among Malayali filmmakers for English titles? Bangalore Days was such a sweet film—but why wasn’t it Bangaloril Chila Divasangal ? It appears that every common item we use on a daily basis—notebook, laptop, lollipop, toothbrush, pencil and SIM card—are Malayalam titles. Is it so hard to think of titles in Malayalam—or is it because they want to reach out to ‘Gelff’, sorry ‘global’ audiences?
VM: Hahaha, TBH Pencil was a Tamil film... yeah, I’ve wondered about this too. Don’t forget titles like School Bus, Loudspeaker, Fireman, Ring Master, Living Together… and the worst one of them all, Kidney Biriyani. I once had to defend a Mammootty film called Bus Conductor to my north Indian friends.
SR: The situation here in Kollywood is so different. Even if it’s essential, filmmakers desist from using an English word/phrase in the title. Otherwise, they would not get a tax exemption. So you have all your English lettering in really small font and the Tamil word highlighted. ‘Deal’ becomes Vaa Deal . All in All Azhagu Raja becomes Azhagu Raja .
VM: But aren’t there exceptions?
SR: Of course there are. Take Pizza . I’m told the makers knew that they’d get a U/A certificate for it anyway, so they went with an English title that suited the storyline. At times, the storyline lends itself to an English word—like Housefull . I’m not referring to the Hindi film franchise, but the 1999 Tamil film by Parthiban. I cannot think of a better title for a story about a bomb placed inside a theatre while a movie is on. When we use words like ‘theatre’ and ‘housefull’ even while speaking in Tamil, it’s strange for authorities to be so fussy about Tamil titles.
VM: Frankly, I’m all for regional film titles. Whatever the English title, can’t we come up with something that comes close in Tamil or Malayalam? It avoids confusion too. I once had a five-minute discussion about Godfather before realising that my friend was talking about the Malayalam one, directed by Siddique-Lal. It’s like the director duo’s good luck charm to stick to English titles. Their superhits include Ramji Rao Speaking, Hitler, Vietnam Colony, Friends , and their latest King Liar . Don’t Tamil directors have such quirks?
SR: Of course they do! Hari, for instance, has a penchant for animal titles – Singam, Venghai , etc. Murugadoss seems to prefer weapons ( Thuppakki, Kaththi ) while Perarasu opts for places ( Thirupaachi , Sivakasi, Pazhani ). And I love Gautham Menon’s Tamil titles... they seem so pure. Pachaikili Muthucharam and Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada evoke such imagery.
VM: Ahhh! Don’t forget Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikalam , and my favourite, Vaaranam Aayiram . Such poetry in that title, though I have no clue what it means. I wish Malayalam directors thought the same way. Why name a 1990’s love story Summer in Bethlehem ? It’s strange that it took 100 years of cinema for a Malayalam love story to be simply titled Premam .
SR: Yeah. It’s perplexing that a word as commonly used as Kaadhal made its way to a film’s title a little over ten years ago, with Balaji Sakthivel’s film.
VM: Heh, Kadhalan , Kaathala Kaathala , Kadhal Desam , Kadhalar Dhinam, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai , even Kadhal Virus released before plain and simple Kaadhal . I’m sure we can come up with better titles than these guys. How about Beerangi ? Isn’t a great title for the next Murugadoss film, especially if he chooses to make a multi-starrer?
SR: Wow, sounds great. How about Aruvaal ? Or is that more Hari than Murugadoss?
VM: That’s more Hari, bro.
SR: I’d like to see Hari working on Nandu, about a hero who, like a crab, is always hiding but strikes hard when he has to. Or Nari , about a cunning protagonist who uses more brain than brawn.
VM: Hahaha, so if Perarasu and Karthik Subbaraj choose to collaborate, which is very unlikely, their film could be called Dindigul Biriyani ?
SR: ROFL. I’ll surely watch that FDFS. But nothing to beat poetry in film titles. Imagine Gautham Menon working on a film titled Thamizhuku Zha Azhagu – perhaps about Tamizh, a single mother who has to pick up the pieces of her life after her cop-husband gets killed in an encounter. Or Vendhu Thanindhadhu Kaadu, inspired by a Bharatiyaar song, about politics in college life, and drug abuse. Da , where are you going? I’m still not done…
VM: I’ll catch you later. I’ve some work at the Film Chamber… need to register all these titles before you do!
