Saif and Rani in Thoda Pyaar... (Below): Anita Raj and co-star in Thodi Life...

A word of caution for those planning to catch the first-day-first-show of Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic on Friday: recheck the title of the film on your ticket stub. If you don’t, you could find yourself watching 80s starlet Anita Raj’s resurrection instead of Rani Mukherjee’s angel act, Jackie Shroff hamming instead of suave Saif Ali Khan looking for love.

Only the title of Thodi Life Thoda Magic bears any resemblance to the Kunal Kohli-directed glossy from the Yash Raj stable. But it has ensured that in the middle of all the hype and hoopla around Kohli’s film — the story is about a fairy changing the lives of four troubled kids — the poor cousin receives a bit of pre-release publicity, too.

Thodi Life Thoda Magic is produced by actor Saahil Chadha (one of the sons in the Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini starrer Baghban) and is about the pressures of life in a metro.

While city multiplexes have lined up more than 50 shows of the all-star Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Chadha’s film — in which Arbaaz Khan is one of the known faces — has got a mere two shows at the plexes.

Fame is the only plex chain that will screen Thodi Life… “The main reason behind the decision to screen the film is the possibility of the film finding favour with a certain section of the audience,” said Abhishek Raina, the marketing head of Fame Cinemas.

The Rs 20-crore Thoda Pyaar…has obviously got a better deal even from single-screen theatres. Menoka, Elite and Star Theatre will have four shows of the Saif-Rani film.

The low-budget Thodi Life… has three shows in Roxy, two each in Radha and Basusree and one in Navina. The film’s Calcutta distributor is optimistic. “Besides the similar-sounding titles, there is nothing common between the two films. But Thodi Life’s different storyline should find takers in the audience,” said Debashish Dey of Kapurchand Films, handling the distribution in the region.

This is also the first occasion in a long time that a Yash Raj production is getting a smooth release at the city plexes. Thanks to the debacle called Tashan, the production house agreed to play all its 2008 releases on multiplex screens at the going rate, only upping the revenue percentage for its big-ticket year-end release, the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Rab De Bana Di Jodi.