A Movie By Any Other Name

A title says a lot about a movie. It's often the first thing a potential viewer learns about a project. Long before the actors are cast or a director is even attached, just hearing a title can make us salivate in anticipation or gurgle in dread. I, for example, will rarely ever see a movie with the word "movie" in the title. (I'm looking at you, Disaster Movie. Or, rather, I'm not looking at you.) Two titles are causing something of a stir for Warner Bros. today.

First up is Mirchi Movies' Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors. The Guardian reports that the Mumbai film is drawing legal ire from Warner Bros. for its similarity to the Harry Potter titles. According to the article, that's mostly where the similarity ends, though. The plot concerns a young boy who "manages to save his father's top secret computer chip from some burglars." No magic tricks or spells are involved. But still, "[a] spokesperson for Warner Bros said: 'We have recently commenced proceedings against parties involved in the production and distribution of a movie entitled Hari Puttar." Is it too late for J.K. Rowling to pen another book about the bespectacled young wizard? Call this one Harry Potter and the Deathly Serious Studio.

On the other side of the coin, Warners is experiencing protests over the title of its Towelhead. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "[an] Islamic civil rights and advocacy group" has asked for a title change, citing the use of the word as a slur against Arabs or those of the Muslim faith. There's even a precedent: Although the film is based on a book of the same name, it debuted as Nothing is Private at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The studio is standing its ground, though, and "plans to keep things as it is and stand by the filmmakers, who chose the title to point out racial stereotypes." It seems Hari doesn't have quite the same defense.

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