When super hit songs inspired these movies titles

Kirron Kher suggested the title Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge for Aditya Chopra’s directorial debut. But this phrase was originally a part of the famous song Le jayenge le jayenge, dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge from Chor Machaye Shor.

Chor Machaye Shor had Mumtaz and Shashi Kapoor in the lead roles. The film did well commercially and so did the song. Little did Aditya Chopra realize DDLJ would set a trend and long film titles would become the norm. 

Here’s taking a look at the super hit songs which became film titles over the last two decades.

Jhoota Hi Sahi for the generations, who have seen Dev Anand’s films whether on the big screen or on TV, almost all of them absolutely adore him in this super-hit song Pal bhar ke liye koi hame pyaar kar le, jhoota hi sahi from Johnny Mera Naam.

The song was picturized on Dev Anand and Hema Malini with music by Kalyanji-Anandji. Exactly four decades later Abbas Tyrewala has called his second directorial venture Jhoota Hi Sahi. Let’s hope the film does as well as the song, after which it has been named.

But Abbas Tyrewala’s first film was also named after a popular number. The song Tera mujhse hai pehle ka naata ko…jaane tu ya jaane na from Aa Gaale Lag Jaa (1973) is often played on radio stations even today. Picturized on Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore, the music was by R. D. Burman. 

More than three decades later Tyrewala’s Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na fared really well at the box-office. Guess in all probability his third film will be called Pappu Can’t Dance Saala.

Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha (1978) wasn’t a huge hit but rarely did Basuda’s films flop. The family audience loved his uncomplicated romance dramas about Mumbai’s middle-class.

Rajesh Roshan did the music and the song uthe sab ke kadam…kabhi khushi kabhi gham (a sweet lilting number stayed on top of the charts for many months) is remembered even today.

So did Karan Johar, who’s always loved long titles, grabbed this for his second film. And KJo’s film went on to become a super-hit.

Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra may be friends, but they are also competitors.

While Karan picked up the line Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Aditya Chopra went ahead and picked up the next line from of this song Ta Ra Rum Pum Pum but unfortunately the song didn’t prove lucky for him.

Ta Ra Rum Pum with Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji was a box-office disaster. The title song by Vishal Shekhar wasn’t appreciated either. Well even Aditya Chopra gets unlucky sometimes.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee films generally had one word titles — Mili, Anand, and Golmaal are just a few of his super-hit films.

But his last directorial venture Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kate was a song from Raj Kapoor’s Bobby. Picturized on Dimple Kapadia and Rishi Kapoor, Jhoot bole kauwa kate… played on Binaca Geetmala for almost a whole year. Unfortunately Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film flopped badly at the box-office.

Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega (2000) had Salman Khan in the lead role, a man, who must choose between the woman he loves, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherji.

But, almost 40 years ago, the line Har dil jo pyaar karega was part of a song from one of Raj Kapoor’s biggest hits Sangam.

The skeletal outline was similar; Sangam had one heroine (Vyjantimala), who must choose between the man she loves and the man who loves her.

The music of course was by Shankar-Jaikishen. Raj Kapoor’s Sangam was a mega hit. Salman’s film didn’t flop but didn’t set any box-office records.

When Shah Rukh and Aditya Chopra were teaming up for their third film, it is obvious they would try to recreate the DDLJ magic.

And they opted for the title Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. But Teri rab ne bana di jodi was a song from Manmohan Desai’s Suhaag (1979).

The original song had the distinct bhangra feel.  A nice touch to the new film was Bobby Khosla (Vinay Pathak) humming the original number in his own voice.

Abhishek Bachchan was the lead actor of Apoorva Lakhia’s Bambai Se Aaya Mera Dost. But a song of the same name was picturized on Vinod Khanna in Aap Ki Khatir (1977).

Apoorva Lakhia’s film has been forgotten by all. But the original number is still popular and often used as caller tunes and ring tones.

It’s almost an unwritten rule that Karan Johar’s films will have a long title. And after his resounding success of K3G, it was Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.

This was originally a line used in Chalte Chalte (1976). The music was by Bappi Lahiri and the song was Chalte chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna, kabhi alvida na kehna…

The song picturized on Simi Garewal was a bigger hit than the film. And surprisingly Karan’s film and the title song were much appreciated.

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