Looks like these are tough times for Rajeev Khandelwal. First his film Peter Gaya Kaam Se has been stuck for over a year. And now another of the actor's films has run into trouble -- over its title. Reason being that he plays a clown in the movie but the flick can't have the word 'Joker' in its title.

The Association of Motion Pictures and Television Programme Producers (AMPTPP) won't allow that as Shirish Kunder's film with Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha is called Joker.

Title tattle
It is learnt that two years ago, producer Kishen Chaudhary wanted to register the title Joker for his film directed by Vikram Tuli. However, he was told that it's already been taken by Kunder for his film with Akshay Kumar. Then he decided to opt for titles like J For Joker, Joker Aaya Re and even Joker My Friend. But he was refused all these titles.

No clowning
When contacted, Chaudhary confirmed the dispute saying, "I guess because big names like Akshay Kumar and Farah Khan are involved, I was refused the title. But 'Joker' is an important word for me because Rajeev plays a clown in the movie. So I've yet to fix a title."

Gifting ideas
Ratan Jain, President of AMPTPP stated that at first he owned the title, Joker. But since he wasn't making a suitable film and Farah wanted it for her production, he decided to give it to her. "It's over two years ago that I gave the title to them," he says.

As for Kishen Chaudhary's film, he maintains, "The title Joker has already been registered for Shirish's film with Akshay and Sonakshi Sinha. So how can we have another film with the word Joker in its title? It can create confusion and affect the film, which registered the title first. That's why we refused the word Joker to Kishen Chaudhary."