Bollywood Movies With Controversial Titles

Bollywood movies often land into controversies regarding some issue or the other, if one doesn't like the name the other doesn't like the story. Some people may have genuine objections but most of the time the controversies that are created are utterly baseless.

I always wonder, 'What's in a name?', seems like the answer is quite a lot. It must be if so many people have a problem with a film's name that they are ready to approach the court. Off late a number of our Bollywood films have run into trouble owing to the issues of the film name, for example Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ram-Leela. According to the Hindu mythology Ramleela means that the story of Lord Ram while Ranveer starrer Ram-Leela was about love, intimate scenes and violence so the community took offense to the name and objected.

Even critics were concerned since the character Ram in the film had nothing to do with the religious god Ram and thought this would confuse audiences coming to watch the film, with the thought that it might have a religious connotation. Director Sanjay was quoted saying, "It appears that some misinformation is being carried out regarding [Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela] which we would like to clarify and state that [it] is inspired and based on William Shakespeare's work Romeo and Juliet." "The said film is neither related to ‘Ramleela' folklore/traditional performance associated with Lord Ram nor related to ‘Rasleela' associated with Lord Krishna. Ram, the character in the said film does not depict or resemble Lord Rama in any manner. " (sic) Just 48 hours ahead of the film's release, the title was rechristened to Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela.

The latest movies to join the bandwagon is Action Jackson, since a Hollywood flick by the same name was made years ago, the makers of Ajay Devgn starrer Action Jackson got embroiled in this name controversies. There are many Bollywood movies which landed into trouble due to the controversial titles. Let's check out those movies.

Ram-Leela

Six petitioners filed a suit saying the movie hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. Since Ramleela means the story of Lord Ram while his movie contained some bold scenes.

Billu Barber

The Salon and Hairdressers' Union protested against the usage of the word 'barber' in the film's title and the badshah of Bollywood happily obliged. Shahrukh even put a sticky on the word 'barber' in the posters and other print material that had been sent out.

Singh Saab- The Great

Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee objected to the film's title. According to them, this is a holy title that is given to Jathedars of the five Takhts and the granthis of the Golden Temple. Hence, it should not be used for commercial purposes.

R...Rajkumar

R..Rajkumar was earlier called Rambo Rajkumar. But the makers of the Rambo series starring Sylvester Stallone have copyrighted this name, thus making the word Rambo unavailable to producers and directors.

Youngistaan

Vashu Bhagnani's film Youngistaan ran into trouble when soft drink brand PepsiCo sent a legal notice to the producers of Youngistaan.

Action Jackson

The film has gotten into trouble with Hollywood studio Warner Bros who released a film in 1998 by the same title. Even in the subcontinent, the studio has the rights to this title.