Two days back I found out there is a new film coming, called Daawat-e-Ishq. Wikipedia page of the movie says that Daawat-e-Ishq means Feast of Love. Well, it's not wrong because the secondary meaning of 'Daawat' or 'Daavat' is feast, or party. And in fact to people who don't use Urdu much, this is the only meaning.
But then Daawat may actually means something else, as the primary meaning of the word is 'invitation'. And while I don't know yet if the producer-director of the movie are interested in which meaning, to me 'invitation of love' would make slightly more sense than 'feast of love'.
As far as Urdu titles and meaning is concerned, Habib Faisal last made Ishaqzaade, whose meaning wasn't too correct despite conveying the idea of what it is about.
[PS: If you doubt that the word can be used for invitations without a party or not, try a mushaira, where poets give each other a 'daawat' to come on the stage. I can tell you there is no food involved there.]
Daawat the Urdu word comes from the Arabic root Daa'wah, which means to proselytise or to invite.. Daawat dena in Urdu also means giving an invitation.. :)
ReplyDeleteI translated the name of the film into Turkish meaning to be "invitation for love".... i was surprised to see the wikipedia description..
ReplyDeleteInvitation to love is a phrase that we also use in Turkish and I think the origin is Farsi. You are absolutely right, it's "an invitation for love"
Actually, we were wrong.
ReplyDeleteI saw the promotions of the film and they had a daawat for the trailer launch... with food and everything.. So they really meant "daawat" as in event. The film is apparently about love and food.
Well, we all know that directors and producers today aren't language experts, and more importantly, even if they are, they give importance to the popular meaning. Had an idea that they'd end up using daawat as feast only. Doesn't mean we're wrong.
ReplyDeleteBtw, Seen our post on Ishqzaade's meaning?
I think that both meanings are intended. The film's plot is about a girl putting out an invitation to find an arranged marriage. The film also revolves around food; the opening credits are a menu, the girl loves food, and her love interest owns a restaurant and woos her with food.
ReplyDeleteConsidering that this movie has a strong Islamic identity in the characters, locations and music, I think the film makers were aware of the Urdu usage of "daawat".
I saw Daawat-e-Ishq when it was in the cinema, but I only recently figured out from movies like Bajirao Mastani that "ishq" means love. I found this page by searching for the meaning of "daawat". Daawat-e-Ishq seems like a delicious play on words.