Hinglish titles, empty coffers?

Hinglish may be the order of the day in Bollywood, be it the film titles, lyrics or even dialogues. But while the films seem to have found takers in multiplex audience, barring a few films most apparently fail to strike a chord with the single screen theatre-goers and smaller towns. Trade analysts and distributors second this. “Of the several films that have been hits despite their Hinglish (read urban) content, a fact is that they would have been far bigger hits had they been more Indianised to the taste of the masses,” says trade analyst Komal Nahta. They reason that most in the smaller towns, find it hard to connect with the storylines or the dialogues.

“In the smaller centres, people often find it hard to grasp the language. So catchy titles or lyrics may work for their catchy tunes, the dialogues often fail to make the impact they would with the multiplex audiences,” says a leading distributor. However they point out that there have been films that’ve clicked with the audiences across board. “A film like Thank You inspite of being set in a foreign country (Canada) and an English title worked simply because the characters and the story went beyond the urban setting,” adds Nahta. “It was 3 Idiots that truly broke all barriers, as it was a film that one expected to do well only in the metros,” informs a trade observer.

Siddharth Roy Kapoor, head honcho of a production house, explains that filmmakers today are not letting these factors create any hindrance to their creativity. “There have been films that have proven that if the content is strong enough, backed by equally powerful performances, then it is bound to do well,” he says.

Nahta agrees, “Yes, ultimately if the film has a universal appeal, then at the end of the day it will do well, whether single theatre or multiplex. But there’s no denying that a majority of the films that’ve been blockbusters are not Hinglish in truest sense,” he says. And filmmakers are not afraid to take risks. So watch out for a barrage of more Hinglish flavour. It’s here to stay in Bollywood.