Meaning of punch dialogue | Babel Free

Definitions

Chiefly in a film: a retort or a witty line, commonly written to be spoken by the protagonist to excite fans of the actor delivering them.

India, South

Examples

“‘Meen aviyal enthayo entho’ – the comic number by Sreenivasan in the movie, ‘Akkare Akkare Akkare’, ‘Thomas Kutty Vittoda’ by Mukesh in ‘Harihar Nagar’ series, ‘Gafoor Ka Dosth’ are other punch dialogues that are printed on the T-shirts, […]”

“Apart from intense fight sequences and glamourous^([sic]) songs, one of the most important ingredients of a masala enetertainer^([sic]) in Tollywood – is its punch dialogues. For instance, a Nandamuri Balakrishna film is incomplete without punch dialogues – those with attitude, catchy slogans, rhymes and alliterations.”

“Rajinikanth didn't invent the punch dialogue, but it is safe to say that nobody has popularised the delivery of sharply written lines aimed for maximum effect better than the Tamil screen icon.”

“The poster is coupled with a punch dialogue which has given a fillip to his [Puneeth Rajkumar's] appearance in the movie and given fans a high.”

“He then delivers one of Iḷaiya Taḷapati (Young General) Vijay’s punch dialogues from the action film Pokkiri (2007, dir. Prabhu Deva): “Oru muṭivu eṭuttā nānē en pēccu kēṭkamāṭṭēn” (Once I make a decision, even I won’t listen to what I say).”

CEFR level