Gopi Mohan on Changing Film Titles

Gopi Mohan on Changing Film Titles. Of late Tollywood is facing the heat from the Censor Board and this forced the makers of the upcoming films to changes the titles.

Santosh Sobhan's Couple Friendly faced Censor Heat and was asked to change the title to Friendly Couple but when they refused, they were given A certificate. Earlier Vaanara was changed to Vana Veera which also faced similar problems. Suhas' upcoming film Hey Bhagawan was changed to Hey Balwanth. Earlier Varun Tej's Valmiki was changed to Gaddalakonda Ganesh.

Chaiwala was changed to Nawab Cafe. Star writer Gopi Mohan said “A director finalises a title after evaluating hundreds of options and registers it for the film. A title carries the soul, essence, and core idea of a movie. Some titles have energy of their own—it’s a necessity, not a choice.”

He continued “Filmmakers are responsible toward society and are careful while fixing titles. Forcing a title change affects creative freedom and puts makers in an awkward situation. A film is promoted across various platforms with a chosen title, and asking for a change at the censor stage is unfortunate. It also impacts collections, as introducing a new title at the last moment is risky.”

He pointed out “Out of nearly 200 titles, perhaps only three or four may be objectionable. Decades ago, the film Bhagwan, starring Krishnam Raju, cleared the censors. But today, Hey Bhagawan! had to be changed to Hey Balwanth. We don’t know what rules have changed in between.”

He speculated “Maybe now there is an attempt to protect Hindu gods or names associated with them, as even Sri Chidambaram was changed to Sri Chidambaram Garu. But I’m not entirely sure.”

Shiva Kandukuri, shared “It is true that censor officials raised objections to our film’s title. We changed it from Chai Wala to Nawab Café and are now trying to reach out to the audience.”