Law & Order, Dhoomakethu & more: Why is Malayalam cinema reusing titles?

Type ‘Law & Order’ into a search bar and the Malayalam film starring Prakash Verma and Shanood Ebrahim has to compete with older works that carry the same name. It is far from the only case. Films across Indian cinema keep arriving under titles that already belong to earlier releases, with ‘Dhoomakethu’ being another recent example. We asked one of the film's cast members whether that bothers him.

Also Read: Same wedding night, different nightmare; Is ‘Dhoomakethu’ copying ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’ or outdoing it? 

‘It came from the production side’

Shanood Ebrahim, who plays Sub-Inspector Firoz Mohammadkutty, was firm that the title was never a publicity strategy. "I don't think there was any intentional thought of taking that movie's title just to gain fame or build a reputation for this movie," he said. According to him, the name "came from the production side, from the director and writer's end," and the cast had no hand in it.

He also said he knew nothing about the older ‘Law & Order’ we raised, and hasn't seen it. When we pointed out that its poster, with a policeman in front and other figures around him, looks similar to the Malayalam film's, he said he hadn't noticed the resemblance.

He was just as quick to dismiss comparisons with other crime films. We asked whether the drug-network and police storyline echoed Kamal Haasan's Vikram, and he said no. "It's all about the friendship in this movie," he said, adding that "many movies have talked about drug dealing in different ways."

Does a repeated title actually matter?

We asked whether reusing an existing name means a new film fails to let the older one exist independently. Shanood didn't accept that framing, but it is a fair question for the industry.

The practical cost falls on discoverability. When two films share a name, search results, streaming listings and rating pages blur together, and an older film can get buried beneath a new release with a larger marketing budget. There is a cost to viewers too. A familiar title carries expectations, and if the film doesn't match them, disappointment follows. The ‘Law & Order’ team lived with a version of this, since early buzz treated the film as a second part of Black, which Shanood says it isn't.

Also Read: ‘Was Mammootty's cameo wasted?’ ‘Law & Order’ actor Shanood Ebrahim answers

The case for reuse is also real. Titles generally can't be owned, and ‘law and order’ is a common phrase that belongs to everyone. A name people already recognise can open doors for a new film in a crowded release calendar. Some would argue that what matters is what is on screen, and that the title is only a label.

What a familiar name is really for

The commercial logic is not hard to see. A recognisable title, a striking teaser and a well-known cameo all exist to fill seats on opening day. Shanood was candid about that, though he was talking about trailers. "To pull a crowd for the first day shows, the teaser and trailer are an important factor," he said. "But to sustain, the movie itself should talk."

That may be the fairest way to think about the title debate. A name can earn a film its first weekend. After that, the audience is watching the film itself, and no title can carry it.