Does the English Title of a Hindi Film Helps a Flm’s Success?

 

English Titles of Hindi films is not a new phenomenon in Hindi Film Industry. During the silent film era, English Titles were very common There was a film with the title 'The Enchanted Pills' directed by S N Patankar in 1920 and another hit film was 'Lady Teacher' released in 1922.

Today, spoken English has become a mix of Hindi and English. In our daily conversations, we use both languages so English titles are not taboo to common people. In fact, English titles connect with today’s public. 

The title of a film actually depends on what the film is all about. If the story connects well with the English title, I guess any director would go ahead with it. Let us take the title 'No One Killed Jessica' which was based on the Jessica Lal murder case, the film could not have had a better title than this.

The title of a film is very important, it attracts people to see the film but if the film is good, it will be a successful film but if it is bad then the Title of the film can not help. Let's take the example of Ranbeer Kapoor's film 'Bombay Velvet'. having an English Title, but failed miserably at the Box Office.

In 2019, 'War' starring Hritik Roshan and Tiger Shroff was the biggest hit and The Accidental Prime Minister was a disaster. Gully Boy starring Ranvir Singh & Alia Bhatt was a hit on the other hand Line of Descent of Abhay Deol was a flop.

After independence in 1948, the film '11 O Clock' with English title was a hit and the same year a film called 'Hip Hip Hurray' starring Nirupa Roy was a flop. It was seen that most of the films of Fearless Nadia had English Titles like Miss Frontier Mail, Diamond Queen, Jungle Princess, and Jungle Queen.

Dev Anand also appeared in many films with English titles. Stage,  Taxi Driver, Ferry, House no 44, Pocketmaar, CID, Paying Guest, Love Marriage, Guide, Jewel Thief, Gambler, Warrant, Bullet, Darling Darling, Gangster,Return of Jewel Thief, Censor, Love at Times Square, Mr Prime Minister, and Chargesheet

Dilip Kumar appeared in only 2 films having English titles,  Footpath and Leader. Raj Kapoor in only one film 'Around the World'

Madhur Bhandarkar has a fascination for keeping English Titles such as Page 3, Corporate, Fashion, Traffic Signal.Jail and Calendar Girl.

Salman Khan has many hit films with English titles like Hello Brother,Love at Times Square, Lucky: No Time for Love, No Entry, Partner,Wanted,Ready, Bodyguard,Kick, Tubelight and Race 3

DAVID- The 'John Chacha' of Bollywood

 

David Abraham Cheulkar (21 June1908– 02 January 1982), popularly known as David, was a character actor of Bollywood. His real birth date is not available on Wikipedia and other websites but I got this date from a photograph of his grave. He was a well-educated person. He was a graduate in 1930 and did LLB during that period. 

He was interested in acting, he made his debut in the 1937 film Zambo as a character artist. In this film, he played the role of a clean-shaven professor. Since then he always remained clean-shaven. He appeared in many films in the early 40s. He got fame as 'John Chacha' from the 1854 film 'Boot Polish'.for which he was awarded the 1955 Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.

 In a career spanning four decades, he played mostly character roles, starting with the 1941 film Naya Sansar, and went on to act in over 110 films, including memorable films such as Gol Maal (1979), Baton Baton Mein (1979),Chupke Chupke (1975),Satyakam(1969), Shehar Aur Sapna(1963), and Boot Polish (1954), 

In his prime, in the period 1959-1975, David was one of the best and the well-known anchors, compere and the host of the prominent award shows and other functions. In one of the speeches Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister, told any of the events will surely be incomplete without David’s speech.

He died on 02 January 1982 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of a heart attack at the age of 73..He is buried in the Beth Jacob synagogue cemetery. His headstone reads: Here's a man who smiled through his tears and laughed in the midst of a sigh. He mingled his youth with advancing years and was happy to live or die.

Songs of David

Song of Boot Polish 1954

Song of Boot Polish 1954

Song of Pyar Mohabbat 1966

The Cool & Supportive On-screen Dads of Bollywood

 

Father is a synonym for happiness! He has been your rock, your shoulder to cry on, and your protector. There was a time when Bollywood gave us a stoic and strict father. Many films were made on Father and son conflicts. Recall the conflict of Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in Mughal e Azam, Dilip Kumar, and Amitabh Bachchan in Shakti or Amitabh and Sanjeev Kumar in Trishul.

Over the last couple of years, the industry has progressed from such roles to progressive ones. Today, our filmmakers are portraying the father as a friend or supportive to his children. In the 2015 film, Piku  Amitabh Bachchan plays the father of Deepika Padukone, advocates for women's rights, and encourages women to be financially independent. In Dangal(2016) Amir Khan plays a father of 4 daughters & goes to ensure that his daughters live a life of dignity rather than staying within the confines of their homes. Let's take a look at a few of these cool and supportive on-screen fathers. 

Angrezi Medium (2020)

Irfan Khan plays the father of a girl, who has always harbored a dream to travel and study abroad. Irfan is strongly supportive of her dream, and, with some effort, she secures a high rank in her final school examinations, enough for her to secure a scholarship from London's Truford University, which has partnered with her school.

102 Not Out (2018)  

Amitabh Bachchan plays a 102-year-old who enjoys life in jovial and fun ways. His 75-year old son, Babulal Vakharia, is his stark opposite. Babulal believes that he is now too old and fragile to enjoy life, and detests how his father acts. This movie amazes us, as a father teaches his son how to live life.

Raazi (2018) 

This movie showcases a different perspective of a father-daughter relationship. A father who is an Indian Spy, trains her daughter to be a spy and asks her to marry a guy from Pakistan. He explains his love for the nation and how important it is.

Dangal (2016) 

It is based on the real story of  Phogat family. Amir Khan plays Mahaveer Phogat, a pehlwani amateur wrestler who trains his daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to become India's first world-class female wrestlers. He ensures that his daughters live a life of dignity rather than staying within the confines of their homes.

Piku (2015) 

Piku Banerjee (Deepika Padukone) is a Bengali architect residing in Delhi with her 70-year-old widower father, Bhashkor (Amitabh Bachchan). Bhaskar is a hypochondriac with chronic constipation, who traces every problem to his bowel movements. The film shows how a daughter will leave no stone unturned to remain with her aging father despite having a difference in their ideologies. It also tells us that a daughter will go to any extent to cure his father’s disease.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) 

Farooq Sheikh, plays one of those cool dads who will have a heart-to-heart chat with you if you are feeling low. In the movie, despite his son's tendency to stay away from him and avoid real conversations, Thapar cared for his son in all the small and big ways possible.

DAAN SINGH- Zikr Hota Hai Jab Qayamat Ka, Tere Jalwo Ki Baat Hoti Hai

 

Recall the songs "Woh Tere Pyar Ka Gham,Ek Bahana Hai Sanam" and "Zikra Hota Hai Jab Qyamat ka Tere Jalwo Ki Baat Hoti Hai" both songs sung by Mukesh from the film MY LOVE released in 1970 starring Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore. The music of this film was given by Daan Singh.

He was very talented but unlucky to get success in Bollywood. He was a disciple of Khemchand Prakash from a very young age. He became his assistant in a few films like Mahal (1949). After the untimely death of Knemchand Prakash, he couldn't get any work in Bollywood, he shifted to Jaipur and joined AIR Jaipur as a Music Asst.

In 1963, he was signed by J P Sharma as an independent music director for the film Bhool Na Jana based on the China attack but the film got banned and it was never released. His next 3 films, Ret ki Ganga, Matlabi, and Bahadur Shah Jafar, were shelved. 

His first released film was a B grade film TOOFAN-1969 unfortunately except for a duet by Mukesh and Asha Bhonsle was popular. His next film was My Love(1970) starring Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore, the music of this film was successful but the film was unsuccessful so he was labeled as an unsuccessful music director. 

He returned back to Jaipur once again. He got a few Rajasthani films in Jaipur but here also none of his films got released. His bad luck followed him here also, he died on 18th June 2011. He had no children

Song of Toofan 1969

Song of My Love 1970

Song of My Love 1970

Song of My Love 1970

The Super Hit Combination of Hemant Kumar, Dada Burman and Dev Anand

 

 In the early 50s, Dev Saab didn’t believe in making one singer his ‘voice’ and juggled between  Mohd. Rafi, Talat Mehmood, Hemant Kumar, and Kishore Kumar. The super hit combination of Dev with Hemant Kumar under the music direction of Dada Burman gave many Immortal Romantic Songs. He became the romantic voice of Dev Anand. He sang only 16 songs as playback for Dada Burman and 10 of those were on Dev Anand and all of them were hits. What a stupendous record.

Hemant Da in an interview said that it was S D Burman who understood the potential of his voice.The romantic pairing of my voice with his (Dev Anand’s) screen image was created by Sachin Babu (SD Burman). People simply loved it. The first song of this combination was 'from Sazaa (1951) with 'Aa Gup Chhup Gup Chhup Pyar Karen' and then the massive hit next year in Jaal,(1952) 'Yeh Raat Yeh Chandani Phir Kahan, Sun Jaa Dil ki Dastan'.

Though he sang for Dev Anand under the composition of other Music Directors also but here we are talking about the songs of this great trio.

Song of Sazaa 1951

Song of Jaal 1952

Song of Jaal 1952

Song of House No 44 1955

Song of Munim Ji 1955

Song from Solva Saal(1958)

Song from Manzil (1960)

Song from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

Prem Dhawan - A Multi-Talented Personality of Bollywood

 

Most of us remember him as a lyricist but he was a multi-talented personality. He started his film career as an assistant music director to Khurshid Anwar in Aaj Aur Kal(1947). He got his first film Ziddi(1948) as a lyricist with a hit song .'Chanda Re, Ja Re Ja Re' sung by Lata Mangeshkar and composed by Khemchand Prakash. Since then he wrote many memorable songs like "Seene Mein Sulagte Hain Armaan" from Tarana(1951) or "Zindagi Khawab Hai" from Jagte Raho(1956)'

Manoj Kumar had high regard for his talent, he offered him, Shaheed(1965) to give its music as well as write songs. He wrote the immortal song ' Rang De Basanti Chola'. Apart from his career as a lyricist and composer, acted in two films, Lajawab (1950) and Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959). He also worked as a choreographer for seven films Arzoo (1950) was the first film as a choreographer, his choreographed song 'Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri' and 'Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawano Ka' from Naya Daur (1957) are immortal.

He also appeared in the song 'Ari O Mohe Chhed Gaya Re from the 1949 film Singaar as a dancer with Cuckoo. He also choreographed the popular song ' Hariyala Sawan Dhol Bajata Aaya' from 'Do Bigha Zameen(1953)'

He was born on 13th June 1923, in Ambala in Hariyana District. His father was Jail superintendent and because of his job, Prem Dhawan got to travel a lot in undivided India with his family, where he got an opportunity to study various cultures and be a part of it. He completed his college education in Lahore where Sahir & Indrakumar Gujral were his best friends.

Prem Dhawan was an underrated music director and lyricist. He composed several films. His songs were full of typical Punjabi flavor. He could not shine as a successful composer, but his few films need a mention like, Shaeed (1965), Pavitra Papi (1970), Raat Ke Aandhere Mein (1987) etc.

He got the National Award for Best Lyrics for the Punjabi film Nanak Dukhiya Sub Sansar (1970). He died on 7 May 2001, at the age of 78, following a cardiac arrest.

Song of Ziddi 1948

Prem Dhawan as a Dancer

Song of Singaar1949

Song of Tarana 1951

Song of Hum Hindustani 1960

Song of Kaabuliwala 1961

Song of  Shaheed 1965

Song of  Ek Phool Do Mali (1969)

Song of Pavitra Paapi 1970

Song of Purab Aur Paschim (1970)