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What’s in a name? Padmavat is the latest Hindi film whose title has been changed

Here’s a look at other movies that courted similar controversies

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(Clockwise from top left) Taapsee Pannu and Amit Sadh in Running Shaadi, Shahid Kapoor in Udta Punjab, Ali Zafar and Yami Gautam in Total Siyapaa, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela, Nargis Fakhri and John Abraham in Madras Cafe and Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in Billu
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On the day that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Padmavati’s title was changed to Padmavat, director Anubhav Sinha tweeted, ‘So Bhansali can now actually throw a party. Just that Whisky will be called ‘Whiska’, Vodka will be called ‘Vodki’ and so on’ (sic). Twitterati had a field day when the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) suggested that ‘i’ should be dropped from the original title, but finally, Bhansali went ahead and made that change. In the past, too, filmmakers have faced the ire of some groups, associations or the CBFC when it came to names of their movies. In most cases, they had to make that crucial change, while in a few, they have been allowed to go ahead with their original thought or idea. Here are some such examples…

RUNNING SHAADI

Last year, a copyright infringement case saw director Amit Roy releasing his Runningshaadi.com as Running Shaadi. In the rom-com, Taapsee Pannu and Amit Sadh start a matrimonial website. But a popular matrimonial site felt that the title bore a resemblance to their domain name. So, the makers were dragged to court. However, no other changes were asked for, and the movie released on the date that it had been scheduled for.

UDTA PUNJAB

In 2016, Udta Punjab courted several controversies before it hit the marquee. However, one of the things that saw the Twitteratti have a field day was when there was a buzz about ‘Punjab’ being asked to drop from the title. Right from #UdtaMazaak doing the rounds to some hilarious tweets such as director Shirish Kunder writing, ‘After removing Punjab from ‘Udta Punjab’ Censor Board to remove Daro from #MohenjoDaro from all dry states Like Gujarat and Bihar’ (sic), the social media showed full support to the filmmakers. Finally, good sense prevailed and the movie was allowed to release with its original name.

TOTAL SIYAPAA

Aman, a Pakistani musician is in love with Asha, an Indian woman living in London. So the makers of the 2014 rom-com, which featured Ali Zafar and Yami Gautam as the star-crossed lovers, were quite gung-ho about the movie that was predictably called Aman Ki Asha. However, since a publication had a copyright over the term, the movie was renamed Total Siyapaa.

GOLIYON KI RAASLEELA: RAM-LEELA

Bhansali’s 2013 film had faced the same fate as Padmavati. The filmmaker wanted the Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh-starrer to be released as Ram-Leela. But some religious groups objected, reasoning that it was misleading as the story had nothing to do with the Ramayana. After a court order, Goliyon Ki Raasleela was added to the title.

MADRAS CAFE

Shoojit Sircar's 2013 political spy thriller, featuring John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri, was previously called Jaffna. Set at the time of the Sri Lankan civil war, John played an Indian Army special officer, who is appointed by the Research and Analysis Wing to head covert operations in the northern province city, after the Indian peace-keeping force was forced to withdraw. However, following objections from Sri Lankans who felt the metropolis was shown in a bad light, the film was renamed as Madras Cafe, a fictional place where the plot to kill former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was hatched.

BILLU

The 2009 comedy-drama, directed by Priyadarshan, faced objections from the salon and beauty parlour associations of Maharashtra who felt that the term ‘Barber’ in the title was derogatory. So, the Shah Rukh Khan-Irrfan-starrer, which was originally named Billu Barber, became just Billu. At that time, speaking to a film website, SRK had said, “See, Censors had cleared the film and even before its making, we had made sure that ‘barber’ is not considered as an offensive term. Still, today if they have an issue with it, I don't want to hurt them. Ours is a non-controversial film and I want it to be loved by the audience. If I have to do something as simple as changing the title, I will do that.”

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