This story is from February 4, 2015

Indrajit Lankesh's name troubles

Shyam Prasad S / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / Feb 4, 2015, 17:00 IST

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When people got confused by the title of his new film, the director decided to change it to the 'wrong one' itself

Director Indrajith Lankesh wanted to desperately believe that the confusion over the title of his new film, Love You Alia, was an aberration. But it was not long before he came to the conclusion that the confusion was real and kicking. The 'Alia' in the title is the name of a girl. But for most Kannada audience, Alia being an alien name, they choose to refer and read it as 'aliya' which means son-in-law.

The final nail in the confusion coffin came from actress Sudharani. When she met the film's leading man Ravichandran recently, she talked about his new film with Indrajit and referred to it as Love You Son-in-law (alia). When Indrajit heard of this anecdote, he decided enough was enough.
On Tuesday, Indrajith marched into the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce office with an application for registering a new title. It was not for a new film. He has applied for the title Love You Aliya. Speaking to Mirror, he said, "Initially, when people spoke of Aliya instead of Alia, I though they were being funny and making a joke about the film. But in reality, many people genuinely think the name is Aliya. One of the film's main narratives is between the father-in-law and son-in-law. So having this title will no way disconnect it with the storyline. Instead of people referring to a wrong name, I have decided to right the wrong."
This is not the first time that Indrajit is in trouble for a film title. His earlier film Dev S/o Mudde Gowda got into trouble with some people protesting the title as being derogatory to a community and former prime minister Deve Gowda. The film's leading man Diganth being shown pants down with the title covering his middle also did not go well. Indrajit arrived at a compromise with the protestors. This time, he is trying to arrive at a compromise with the audience themselves who might misread the title.
Indrajit is directing the film under the Magic Cinema banner. Apart from Ravichandran, the film stars Bhoomika Chawla and newcomers Chandan and Sangeetha Chauhan. Nikesha Patel is also seen in a guest role.

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