In 1956, MG Ramachandran aka MGR starred in a Tamil version of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (‘Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum’)—which was a massive hit. It is also the reason why so many Tamil kids grew up saying ‘Open See-same’ instead of ‘Open Say-se-mee’. It’s among the many delightful examples of ‘mispronunciation’ (of this famous phrase) in Indian and foreign films that Karthik Srinivasan looks at in this piece. It’s a lot of fun to read and watch the different movie clips—all of which are very retro and very goofy.