Lettering
A title can keep time of its own. Weight, gesture and outline give a song a voice before it is heard.
Film titles in print were frequently drawn rather than typeset. A letterer could stretch a word, slant it, outline it or set it in heavy blocks, and each choice told the reader something about the film and its music before they read a single credit.
Three scripts on one page
Hindi-film publicity often sets a title in more than one script, with Devanagari, Urdu and Roman lettering appearing together. Each script brings its own rhythm. Designing them to sit side by side, without one swamping the others, is one of the quiet skills of the form.
Three original studies
The studies on this page were drawn for Hindi Movie Gossip. They show three common approaches without copying any real film title.
Study A: SUR, condensed gothic
Upright strokes, clipped corners and close spacing. Condensed letters fit a long word into a narrow cover and give it a firm, emphatic voice.
Study B: Lehar, brush script
A rising stroke and a long return sweep. Script lettering suggests breath and movement, and feels made by a hand rather than a machine.
Study C: DHUN, outlined slab
Wide feet anchor the word while open centres let the paper show through. Outlines stay readable at a distance and can be printed in a single colour.
How we treat real lettering
A drawn film title is someone’s artwork. We discuss real lettering by describing it and, where we have a clear right, showing it with a credit. We do not redraw or trace real title lockups to make them look like our own.