Top 10 Movie Titles Which Were Used The Most By Bollywood
Posted On: 21 Jun 2021 | Last Updated : 08 Mar 2022 | Views : 2.3k
Thinking or deciding on an apt movie title that justifies and fits perfectly for a film is no easy task. On most occasions, the writer suggests or comes up with the right title but if it doesn’t sound convincing to the film unit members then it often becomes a daunting task. Choosing and freezing upon a movie title has its own parameters like it should gel well with the narration, it should be short, catchy, and easy to recollect and something which the audiences can relate to. Our Bollywood filmmakers when do not find or think of a new title for their film often end up using a title that already has been used earlier in the past. There have been instances where a movie title has been repeatedly used many times but we as audiences lose track of those titles and how many times have, they been used over the years. Here is a list of the top 10 straight Bollywood movie titles which were used the most times by our filmmakers.
(Note: The selection criteria for the list are a minimum of six times while some movie titles' spelling may not be exactly similar but meant the same. We have excluded sequels from the list and do pardon us for not finding posters for all films.)
1. Insaaf – 9 Times
Probably, the most used Bollywood movie titles of all, Insaaf has been used a good nine times by our filmmakers. The first time a movie by the title of Insaaf released in 1925 which was followed by the Leela Chitnis starrer Insaaf again in 1937. The year 1946 once again saw the title Insaaf being used by director Phani Majumdar starring Swarnlata and Navin Yagnik. In 1956 came Kedar Kapoor’s Ajit and Nalini Jaywant starrer Insaaf followed by Prithviraj Kapoor and Dara Singh’s action drama Insaaf in 1966. Later, in 1973 Pran, Waheeda Rehman, Tanuja and Vijay Arora acted in a film titled Insaf and in 1987 Vinod Khanna’s comeback action-thriller film Insaaf directed by Mukul Anand was released. The title of Insaaf was yet again used in 1997 which starred Akshay Kumar & Shilpa Shetty and in 2004 that starred Sanjay Suri, Dino Morea and Namrata Shirodkar, respectively.
2. Laila Majnu – 8 Times
As expected the legendary love saga of Laila Majnu appears in the top 10 movie titles used most by Bollywood. This title has been brought to the silver screen many times in many Indian languages. Though the title has been used by adding a prefix or suffix to it at times but Laila Majnu has stood the times. The first three times the title of Laila Majnu was used in the silent era and thereafter in Ahmed Lucknawi's Laila Majnu which released in 1941. The most prominent of all was actor-director Nazir’s Laila Majnu (1945) which starred himself and Swarnlata in the titular roles and went on to celebrate a silver jubilee at the box-office. Then came the Shammi Kapoor & Nutan starrer Laila Majnu in 1953 directed by K. Amarnath after which the title was reused by H.S. Rawail in 1976 starring Rishi Kapoor and newbie Ranjeeta Kaur. The last time the title of Laila Majnu was used by director Sajid Ali in 2018 which had Avinash Tiwary and Tripti Dimri playing the leads.
3. Inteqam – 8 Times
Featured among the 10 most used Bollywood movie titles is the title of Intaqam which was used on eight occasions by different filmmakers. To begin with, the first time it was used by director K.P. Dave in 1930 during the silent era which starred Sultana and Eddie Billimoria. In the year 1931 released Intaqam was directed by H.R. Desai which was also known as Debts of Honour for English-speaking audiences. Though not much is known about J.K. Nanda’s directed Intaqam released in 1933 but the films released thereafter with the same title were popular. Director R.K. Nayyar’s Sadhana & Sanjay Khan starrer Intaquam in 1969 was a big hit with superhit songs by Laxmikant – Pyarelal. After a gap of 19 years followed Rajkumar Kohli’s revenge drama Intaqaam (1988) starring Sunny Deol and Anil Kapoor and Aslam Azmi’s Inteqam in 2001 which starred Hareesh, Akshay Anand, and Pooja Dadwal. The eighth time the title was reused was in 2004 in Pankaj Parashar’s Inteqam: The Perfect Game which had Manoj Bajpayee, Isha Koppikar, and Nethra Raghuraman in the lead.
4. Heer Ranjha – 7 Times
Another legendary love saga that has been heard since time immemorial is Heer Ranjha. The title of Heer Ranjha has been used seven times in Bollywood films alone as far as we know. During the silent era, it was a trend to follow suit whenever a type of film succeeded at the box-office resulting in a spate of movies releasing with the same title or storyline. Director R.S. Choudhury’s Heer Ranjha released in 1929 starring Ruby Meyers & Dinshaw Bilimoria was a big hit while A.R. Kardar’s Heer Ranjha (1932) starring Rafiq Ghaznavi and Anwari too was popular. Though not much is known about the 1948 Mumtaz Shanti starrer Heer Ranjha twenty-two years later in 1970 Chetan Anand hit gold with his version of Heer Raanjha which starred Raaj Kumar and Priya Rajvansh in the titular roles. The film is not only remembered for its chartbuster songs by Madan Mohan but also the dialogues which were written in verses by the great Kaifi Azmi. Director Harmesh Malhotra’s attempt to recreate the same magic with Anil Kapoor and Sridevi using the same title of Heer Ranjha in 1992 didn’t work at the box-office.
5. Kismat - 7 Times
Kismat or Kismet title was first used by director Baburao Patel in 1932 which released in the silent era. The second time the title was used for the Ashok Kumar blockbuster Kismet which was directed by Gyan Mukherjee and went on to break all then-existing box-office records. In 1956 came Nanabhai Bhatt’s Kismet which starred Rajan, Nishi, Gope and Helen which was followed by Manmohan Desai’s superhit action-thriller Kismat in 1969 starring Biswajeet and Babita. The year 1980 yet again saw a film titled Kismat which starred Mithun Chakraborty and Ranjeeta. The title Kismat was yet again utilized by Harmesh Malhotra in 1995 which starred Govinda & Mamta Kulkarni while Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra too appeared in a film titled Kismat in 2004.
6. Toofan - 7 Times
Toofan is another most used Hindi movie title by our Bollywood filmmakers. Though it was also used as a prefix and suffix to form other titles like Toofan Mail, Toofan Queen and Aandhi Toofan, Aaya Toofan, Bijlee Aur Toofan, etc., but Toofan as a title was first used during the silent era by director Bhagwati Prasad Mishra in 1931. Subsequently, the title was used yet again in 1940 and 1951 which starred Pran and Pratima, and in 1969 by director Radhakant starring Dara Singh and Anita. Another film with the title of Toofan was released in 1975 which starred Vikram, Priyadarshini, Jagdeep, and Jeevan. Then came Ketan Desai’s Amitabh Bachchan starrer Toofan which performed below expectations at the box-office and Farhan Akhtar’s sports drama Toofaan in 2021 directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.
7. Dushman – 6 Times
The title of Dushman was used six times in all according to us. Except for Rajesh Khanna’s Dushmun (1972) which had a ‘U’ instead of an ‘A’, the rest of the titles had the same spelling. The first time the title of Dushman was used by New Theaters in 1939 by director Nitin Bose which starred K.L. Saigal and Leela Desai. The second time the title was used by Phani Majumdar in 1950 which starred Sheikh Mukhtar, Renuka Devi and Leela Chitnis. Director Raj Rishi’s 1957 action-drama starring Dev Anand and Usha Kiran was also titled Dushman while the fifth time it was used for the Mithun Chakraborty and Mandakini starrer in 1990 by director Shakti Samanta. The last time Dushman title was used for Tanuja Chandra’s Kajol, Sanjay Dutt and Ashutosh Rana starrer in 1998 which was produced by Pooja Bhatt.
8. Raja Harishchandra - 6 Times
Indian cinema’s first movie Raja Harishchandra directed by Dadasaheb Phalke was released in 1913. He remade his own movie with the same title and increased the runtime as the earlier one was a shorter version. The year 1924 saw Phalke’s cinematographer and actor D.D. Dabke who was part of the earlier two films turned director and make his version with the same title. In 1928, yet another film with the title of Raja Harishchandra was released which was directed by Y.D. Sarpotdar and starred Lalita Pawar. Another film with a similar title was released in 1952 which was directed by Raman Desai and starred Prem Adib, Sumitra Devi and Bipin Gupta. The last time the title of Raja Harishchandra was used in 1979 by actor turned director Ashish Kumar who played the titular role and also starred Neera, Abhi Bhattacharya, Bela Bose and Bharat Bhushan.
9. Anjaam - 6 Times
The title of Anjaam was used as many as six times according to our research team. The first time it was used by director Kanjibhai Rathod in 1940 which was followed by Shanti Kumar’s Anjam in 1952 that had Premnath, Vyjayantimala, Kuldip Kaur and Dulari as the main star cast. Actor Feroz Khan along with Shahida acted in a movie by the name of Anjam in 1968 which was directed by Shiv Kumar. In 1978 director Kishore Khanna’s action crime drama Anjaam released which had Nutan, Sachin and Sarika in the main cast. Thereafter on two more instances, the title of Anjaam was used – 1987 and 1994. The 1987 Anjaam was directed by T. Hariharan and starred Hema Malini, Shashi Kapoor, Rajan Sippy and Parijat while the 1994 Anjaam was directed by Rahul Rawail and starred Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Deepak Tijori.
10. Zindagi – 6 Times
Finally, the movie title Zindagi wasn’t used as many times as we thought. After researching through all the titles, we concluded that it has been used only six times but has been a part of many other titles consisting of multiple words. The first time the title of Zindagi was used by P.C. Barua in 1940 which starred K.L. Saigal and Jamuna. Two years later in 1942 came director Amiya Chakrabarty’s social drama Zindagi starring Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant. In 1956, Geeta Bali starrer Zindagi directed by C.L. Dheer released while Gemini’s popular family drama Zindagi starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayantimala released in 1964, respectively. Ravi Tandon’s Zindagi starring Sanjeev Kumar, Mala Sinha, Vinod Mehra and Moushumi Chatterjee released in 1976. And finally, the sixth time the title of Zindagi was used by director Suraj Prakash in 2000 which starred Mukesh Khanna, Zarina Wahab and Kiran Kumar.
