Kalyug was originally called Blue Film, and Mahesh Bhatt kept this from Kunal Kemmu; actor recalls ‘awkward conversation’ with parents

He said, “Kalyug wasn’t written for me, because they were figuring out what film I should do. Kalyug was called Blue Film at that time, and it was for Bhatt saab’s son… The thing is, when Bhatt saab told me about the film, he didn’t tell me the title. He narrated the story to me, and I said, ‘It’s brilliant, I want to do it’. Still no title. And I’ve been signed on, and they said they want to do a photoshoot. And there I hear them discuss it: ‘Toh yeh Blue Film neeche likhna hai?‘”

Kunal said that he was taken aback, and thought, “Now how do I bring this up at home?” He continued, “At home, we had this thing where twice a week, we’d all go to buy vegetables. And I remember, I had two thailis full of bhindis and gajar and my mum was walking in front, this is a clear visual in my head… She’d been asking me, ‘Beta picture ka naam kya hai?’ And I knew the picture’s name, but I’d been saying that they hadn’t decided yet. And I’m walking behind her, and I see all these uncles and aunties say hello, and my mum is bragging: ‘Isko picture mil gayi hai.’ And I keep looking at these people in the sabzi mandi and thinking I can’t tell them, they’ll judge me.”

He said that he eventually got around to telling his parents the title, and they had an ‘awkward conversation’ about it. Because they wouldn’t be able to promote a movie titled Blue Film on television, it was decided to rename the film Kalyug instead. Directed by Mohit Suri, the film was released in 2005, and also starred Emraan Hashmi and Ashutosh Rana.