The Long and Short of It

Pioneered by Daag: The Fire, the trend of having subtitles for Hindi films continues unabated. The latest - and probably the longest - is an Emraan Hashmi starrer. It is called The Train: Some Lines Should Never Be Crossed (38 letters).
So is it the longest Hindi film name ever? The other contenders are Andheri Raat Mein Diya Tere Haath Mein (32 letters) and Paap Ko Jalaa Kar Raakh Kar Doonga (28 letters).

So, any more contenders? Genuine Hindi film names longer than the above, preferably seen by more than a 100 people.
I am not allowing South Indian film names here because there is 1024 MB limit on the data I can have on Blogger! Of course, Sethu and Run are probably the shortest film names as well, coming from TN. Ah - the irony!

And while on the topic of long names for films, Johnson's Reach Presents Thoda Hain, Thode Ki Zaroorat Hain at 51 letters is the longest that a television serial had achieved. But if you believe the anchor of the newest music reality show, then we have a new winner in town - Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007: Sangeet Ka Pratham Vishwayudh (59 letters)!

To go back a bit, one of the earliest ‘long words’ I came across was in my 1987 edition Guinness Book of World Records, which was the name of a ‘particular lung disease caused by the inhalation of fine silica dust’. The word was pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis weighing in at 45 letters. Of course, the ‘respiratory disease caused by pronouncing the above word’ is a different ball-game altogether!
Another long word - favoured by Satyajit Ray, no less - is floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters), which is 'the act of estimating as worthless'. This probably means that we can use the word or a conjugated version in a sentence. Say, "The jeweller floccinaucinihilipilificated our family heirlooms". Not bad, huh?

As far as sportspersons are concerned, my preoccupation has been documented previously. P T Usha’s full name (35 letters) was every trivia buff’s dream as it upstaged Pele (Edson Arantes de Nascimento – a paltry 24).
Of the current crop, Sri Lankan cricketers rule the roost though asking their full names in quizzes is largely curtailed due to time constraints. I mean, if you ask the full names of Vaas and Dharmasena today, we will finish just in time for the 2011 World Cup! And Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas (52 letters) and Handunnettige Deepthi Priyantha Kumar Dharmasena (44 letters) would have retired by then!
The only other country to compete with these Big Berthas is India, where Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna (34 letters) and Gundappa Ranganathan Vishwanath (29 letters) can come close. Brian Charles Lara and Ricky Ponting just pale into insignificance!

As far as place names are concerned, there seems to be a huge debate on whether the official name should be considered or the common name.
If it is the former, then Bangkok has an official name running into 167 letters. Whew!
This name thrashed the official name of Los Angeles, which is a mere 55 letters. But being the capital of showbiz, they managed get into Guinness Book for another record. Their common name - LA is only 3.6% of their official name - the lowest! If that is a record, then anything can be!
For the common name category, not only is there a town running into 58 letters, they have registered their name as a domain name (maximum permissible: 63 letters) and is claiming to be the longest ‘legitimate’ domain name as well.

What is an illegitimate domain name, you ask? Well, this and this are examples of those. Basically, anything that has been forcefully made or gibberish to fit 63 letters is not done! As if, that place name made immense sense! And if you are currently being treated for any mental disease, then you can get an email address at the latter domain name.

And finally, in a bit of an oxymoron, there is a Guinness category of the ‘longest abbreviation’ as well where a Russian monstrosity takes the dubious honour!
Closer home, I came across a promotion organized by Radio Mirchi where all students who have taken the Board exams this year would be eligible to attend a party at Café Coffee Day. And in an extension of other abbreviations like ICSE and CBSE, the event was called DSHGBEKPSKHY (Dus Din Ho Gaye Board Exams Ke, Party Sharty Kahan Hain Yaar?)!

Devastating, no?