MUMBAI, May 13: After the debacle of Koyla, theatres in the city are awaiting the release of another Shah Rukh-Madhuri starrer, Nafrat Ka Anjaam. Only no such film featuring the two stars has ever been shot. Its just their mega flop Anjaam being released with a new title.

The producer-director of the film, Rahul Rawail, isn't very happy with his film's new avtaar, and has threatened to sue the distributor, Zeal Films. ``I have issued a notice to the distributor, and if he goes ahead and releases my film, I will take him to court,'' he says.

But Tulsidas of Zeal Films, which is releasing the movie on behalf of its original distributors Mahalakshmi Films, claims there's nothing wrong in re-releasing a film. ``We are not fooling the audiences. The stills of the film are the same as they were earlier. And the public knows it is the same film,'' he says. He also tries to justify himself by saying, ``Although Koyla, their last film together hasn't done too well, they are both very popular and are still rated very highly. Besides, this is a slack period for Hindi films and there are no big releases coming up till June...we need films to keep the theatres going.''

This is not the first time that a film has been re-packaged and pushed down audiences' throats. The Amitabh-Zeenat Aman starrer, The Great Gambler was released a couple of years ago and was re-christened Sabse Bada Juari. And after the runaway success of Akshay Kumar's Khiladi, and Sabse Bada Khiladi, his flop attempt at a double role, Jai Kishen was renamed Khiladi Hindustani.

This trend of releasing old films with new names which started in Delhi and UP has caught on in Mumbai in recent years. Says Deepak Wasani of Paras Publicity, ``Flop films which boast of big stars are brought out of the cupboard and are released, most often by small timers, who hire the prints from the original distributors for a year or two.''

To avoid the hassle of registering a new title which would entail getting a fresh censor certificate, the original title is retained, but is dwarfed in front of the new name and often goes unnoticed. Unsuspecting audiences are drawn to the theatres for the first few shows. But it's not long before the truth comes out, and collections drop dramatically. Naturally, these re-releases are confined to the smaller and shadier cinema halls in the city. But some such films actually manage to make money. Take the Ajay Devgan-Urmila-Naseeruddin Shah-starrer Bedardi for example. It is probably the greatest re-release success story. When the film first hit the theatres, it was a colossal flop. Then Rangeela established Urmila's sex-symbol image. And Bedardi was released with a new title, Tabaahi. A skimpily dressed Urmila featured prominently on publicity posters splashed all over the city. And wonder-of-wonders, the film was actually a hit all over Maharashtra. Primarily because Bedardi was such a damp squib that no one remembered it, and also because the actress was hot property at that time.

Most producers do not object to their films being presented with a new packing, and Rawail's threat is probably the first instance when a producer has decided to take serious action against such gimmicks. But while he may be able to prevent the release of this film, the trend of such re-runs is likely to continue.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.