Old Hindi songs now remixed as Bollywood titles

Comments [ 0 ] By IANS | 28 January 2008 | 9:45am

New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) Popular Hindi film songs are never forgotten; they are recycled. Remixes have given a new life to many numbers and now film titles are inspired by them.

Creative borrowing is the name of the game in Bollywood. Stories and music compositions are often lifted from the West, but there are some filmmakers who are fascinated with popular Hindi songs and use them in their movie titles.

Aditya Chopra should take the cake for popularising the trend with his directorial debut 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' (DDLJ). The title of the puppy love story was taken from the popular song 'Le jayenge, le jayenge, dilwale dulhania le jayenge' from the 1974 movie 'Chor Machaye Shor'.

DDLJ was a phenomenal hit and it made Shah Rukh Khan a superstar. It has been running in Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre for the last 12 years.

Some of the recent titles are a constant reminder of the old tunes, which caught the audience's fancy and are still hummable. It also confirms filmmakers' fascination for old songs.

For instance, Siddharth Anand's release 'Ta Ra Rum Pum Pum' last year is from the chartbuster 'Uthe sab ke kadam, dekho rum pum, aji aise geet gaya karo... Kabhi khushi, kabhi gum, Ta ra rum pum pum, haso aur hasaya karo' from Basu Chatterjee's 'Baton Baton Mein'.

However, Anand's film, produced under the Yash Raj Films banner, couldn't replicate the success of that song.

The title of Karan Johar's family drama 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' is also inspired by the same song.

Another Yash Raj Film title 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom', which was Shaad Ali's second directorial venture, was taken from the famous qawwali 'Jhoom barabar jhoom sharabi' by Aziz Nazan.

Earlier, the same banner gave us 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai' (2002), with the title based on the popular old song 'Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai' from the Shatrughan Sinha-starrer 'Aadmi Sadak Ka'. The song from the 1977 film is still played in marriages although the 2002 film starring Uday Chopra and Tulip Joshi has since been forgotten.

Rani Mukerji's 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag', a tale of a fallen woman, is again a Yash Raj production and its title is borrowed from the classic number, 'Laga chunari mein daag chhupaaun kaise', from the Nutan-Raj Kapoor starrer 'Dil Hi To Hai'.

The title of Rani's 2003 romantic hit 'Chalte Chalte' was inspired by Kishore Kumar's hit number 'Chalte chalte mere ye geet yaad rakhna, kabhi alvida na kahena'. The song also inspired the title of Karan Johar's damp squib about extra-marital affair: 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'.

'khoya Khoya Chand', the title of the latest from Sudhir Mishra, is taken from the melodious number 'Khoya khoya chand, khula aasmaan' memorably picturised on Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman in 'Kala Bazar'.

The title of E. Niwas' comeback movie 'My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves' is, of course, from the hit song from 'Amar Akbar Anthony' starring Amitabh Bachchan.

The title of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's 'Rang De Basanti' was taken from the popular patriotic song 'Mera rang de basanti chola' from the movie 'Shaheed' and Shriram Raghavan's 'Ek Hasina Thi' was picked up from Subhash Ghai's super-duper hit 'Karz' and it was the climax song of the movie.

Interestingly, Sai Paranjpe's hit comedy 'Chashme Buddoor' is titled after the song 'Teri pyaari pyaari surat ko kisi ki nazar na lage, chashme baddoor' from the movie 'Sasural'.

Some other film titles inspired by songs are 'Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate', 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke', 'Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo' and 'Saat Rang Ke Sapane'.

The trend is here to stay as the titles of some forthcoming movies like 'Chal Chala Chal', 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na', 'De Taali', 'Allah Ke Bande' and 'Hal-e-Dil' too are inspired by popular songs.

Copyright IANS

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