The name game

Films are often named after successful Indian flics or song lyrics, but registering a title is a complicated process.

LAHORE: Pakistani films may often be named after successful Indian ventures or a song lyric, but registering a title is a complicated process.

Pakistani filmmakers believe that the success of a film is linked to its name as well - and hence go through a lot of pain and consultations before they decide the name.

However, a producer cannot get the name of his film registered if he isn’t member of the Pakistan Film Producers Association. Currently, there are some 300 members of the association which once used to have near 1000 members. Not all of the 300 members are ‘active’ but are still registered as film producers.

The association is responsible for registering the name of any upcoming film and terms it as ‘title’ and forwards this to the ministry of culture. Muhammad Azam, who is a permanent official of the Pakistan Film Producers Association and has been working with it since 1978, told The Express Tribune that the association registered names of all Pakistani films. He said, “When a producer gets the title he is supposed to start work on it within one year. If he doesn’t start the work within a year he will either have to renew the title or will lose the property right. There are examples of producers who keep renewing titles year after year.”

The matter of naming a film is decided on ‘first come first served’ basis. If more than one producer wants to have the same name of their films, the title is registered on the name of the producers who approaches the association first.

Azam said, “If someone wants to make a film and is not registered with the association, the censor board doesn’t accept the movie. We register the title, make a file and forward it to the ministry and once the movie is completed, the producer takes a copy of that file before the censor board that then censors it and allows its release.”

There are no clauses in the constitution of the association which could stop a Pakistani producer from copying the name of some Indian film. “Pakistani and Indian movies have often had the same names. There isn’t any law or provision which could stop it. Indian movies have been named after Pakistan movies and vice-versa,” he said.

Azam, who has spent a larger chunk of his life while working at the association, reminisces about the time when they used to register names of hundreds of the movies in a calendar year. “We used to have hell of a work,” he says while sitting on an old chair in a room that hasn’t been whitewashed in years. “The film industry declined and so did the activities of our association,” he add.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2010.