Bollywood seems to be going big on double roles with Salman doing the trick in both his upcoming films, Kick 2 and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Will SRK’s double role in Fan be able to match up to four Salmans?
Salman recently told the Hindustan Times that his double role in the sequel to Kick will be nothing less than dhamaakedaar! The actor said “Work on the film’s script is on. I had only given him (Sajid) the concept, and now, he is working on the story. The movie will have a double role. Bahut zabardast idea hai (the idea is mind-blowing). When he is done with the script and the screenplay, we will take it on the floors.”
Salman hasn’t done any double roles since Karan Arjun (1995) and Judwaa (1997). We’ve always loved double role flicks! While on the subject, let’s look back at some of Bollywood’s most memorable double roles.
Dilip Kumar in Ram Aur Shyam(1967)
Based on Alexandre Dumas’s novel about twins with starkly different temperaments (The Corsican Brothers) Dilip Kumar’s performance in and as Ram Aur Shyam (1967) truly was a benchmark for the numerous ‘twin’ films that followed. The only difference was that in the film, Ram and Shyam reunite as adults whereas the novel revolves around twin boys growing up together.
Hema Malini in Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)
Ramesh Sippy’s female version of Ram Aur Shyam is still remembered for Hema Mailini’s superb comic timing. She plays identical twins Seeta and Geeta who were separated at birth and swap lives as adults. Malini won her only Filmfare Award for Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) and has only been nominated since.
Salman in Judwaa (1997)
The Salman Khan starrer Judwaa (1997) was a remake of a Telugu film Hello Brother (1994) starring Akkineni Nagarjuna. The film was a blockbuster hit and why wouldn’t it be with Anu Malik’s music, David Dhawan’s direction and Salman’s adorable twin act.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Triple Role in Mahaan (1983)
Big B was and still is a trendsetter. Though he has several double roles to his credit, he took the concept a little further and played the role of a father and both his twin sons in Mahaan (1983). The film was a remake of a Kannada film Shankar Guru (1978) starring Rajkumar.
Shah Rukh Khan in Duplicate (1998)
While this SRK starrer was also a comedy of errors like the others, Duplicate played more on the concept of lookalikes rather than twins. Shah Rukh was great, both as the bhola chef Bablu and the shaana criminal Manu. The film didn’t do well at the box office though.