When Abbas Tyrewala wrote the catchphrase “Pappu Can’t Dance Saala’ for his debut film little did he know it would grow into a youth chant at pubs, college campuses and bowling alleys.

So the first thing he was advised to do was to register the title for future use. Abbas was in no mood to use Pappu Can’t Dance Saala as a title for any of his future films. He gladly handed the words of his lyrics to writer-actor-director Saurabh Shukla.

Says Abbas, “Saurabh is most welcome to it. Pappu Can’t Dance Saala could never have been the title of any of my films. I gladly gave away the phrase. Pappu can’t dance saala or Jhiggy wiggy (for Blue) are catch-phrases I wrote off-the-cuff to appeal to youngsters. There’s no way I’ll re-title my new film Pappu Can’t Dance Saala. That phrase is done with. I’ll never use it again.”

Last heard, Abbas was being pressurized by potential distributors to change the title. “I just might have to change it,” relents Abbas. “I could go for an old Hindi film-song title like I did in Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na.”

Commenting on A R Rahman’s music Abbas says, “Rahman created a totally different musical style for Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na and now for 1-800-Love. I loved writing Pappu can’t dance saala and Jiggy wiggy for Rahman. They both appealed to the young, Pappu to the 18-year old, Jiggy to the 4-5-year old.”

Abbas Tyrewala and his producer Madhu Mantena are at loggerheads over the strange-sounding title 1-800-Love of Abbas’s film.

The producer it seems was against the odd title from the start and insisted that the term 1-800-Love had no relevance to Indian audiences.

But Abbas insisted on the title.

“That’s the name by which I see the characters’ lives unfold,” the director insists.

-Subhash K Jha/ Sampurn Media