‘Angoor’ to ‘Judwaa’: Bollywood’s Best Double Roles

On Deven Verma’s birth anniversary, take a look at Bollywood’s most memorable double roles.

Deven Verma with Sanjeev Kumar in a still from Angoor. 

(Photo courtesy: Youtube Screenshot)

Why does the US mark April 20th as the National Look Alike day? And why should we care? Well we shouldn’t really but since Bollywood has such a treasure trove of twin flicks, why not revisit them just for fun!

1. Ram Aur Shyam(1967)

Dilip Kumar meets his twin in a scene from 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.

2. Angoor (1982)

This Sanjeev Kumar - Deven Verma starrer is still the most loved look-alike comedy ever! The film in fact made Indian audiences wonder ‘Yeh Shakespeare kaun hai bhai’? Based on William Shakespeare’s play The Comedy of Errors, the film took comedy and confusion to a whole new level with two sets of twins.

Check out this funny scene from the film:

3. Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)

A scene from Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) where Hema Malini plays a double role

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.

4. Judwaa (1997)

Still from the film Judwaa (1997) where Salman Khan plays twin brothers Prem and Raja.

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.

5. ChaalBaaz (1989)

Sridevi playing double role in the film ChaalBaaz (1989)

Another twin comedy that won Sridevi the Filmfare Award for Best Actress was Pankaj Parashar’s ChaalBaaz. Remember the peppy chartbuster Najane Kahaan Se Aayi Hai  with Sridevi dancing away in a transparent raincoat under a yellow umbrella?

6. Duplicate (1998)

Still of SRK from the film 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.

7. Amitabh Bachchan’s Triple Role in Mahaan (1983)

Amitabh Bachchan in triple roles in the film 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.

8. Humshakals (2014)

This Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh starrer has made it to this list for a totally different reason altogether. It is by far the WORST lookalike film ever made. Nothing about the film is funny and the plot is too far fetched. The film was a total disaster so much so that it embarrassed its own star cast, understandably so.

(This story is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 20 April on ‘National Look Alike Day’. It is being republished to mark Deven Verma’s birth anniversary.)