The success of Akshay Kumar's twin avatar in "Rowdy Rathore", which entered the Rs.100 crore (about $20 million) club within two weeks of its release, proves how the formula remains to be a hit.
"Double roles was a classic and successful format in Hindi commercial cinema down the decades. Within the previous couple of years, probably because cinema has become more realistic and no more fantastical, the choice of movies with double roles had reduced. But they never really went out of fashion," said Siddharth Roy Kapur, managing director, Studios, Disney UTV.
"If the audience enjoys the contrast between the characters in all of the two roles, as was the case in 'Rowdy Rathore', it means they get full 'paisa vasool' - two Akshay Kumars for the ticket price of one," he told.
Rohit Shetty's "Bol Bachchan" is alleged to be inspired by 1979 movie "Gol Maal". Within the comedy, Amol Palekar did not have a double role, but his character changed get-ups. The forthcoming movie, set for release July 6, features Abhishek Bachchan creating double dhamaal.
The buzz is that filmmaker Anees Bazmee is ready to offer a triple bonanza by presenting Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and Fardeen Khan in double roles in his comic caper "No Entry Mein Entry", a sequel to "No Entry".
Others who could be seen into double role include Katrina Kaif in "Seeta Aur Geeta" remake, Arjun Kapoor in "Aurangzeb", Saif Ali Khan in "Judwaa" sequel, Sanjay Dutt in "Satte Pe Satta" remake and Arjun Rampal in "Ajab Gajabb Love".
"Double role films work for a metamorphosis. Shakti Samanta's 'China Town' (which had Shammi Kapoor in double role) was an apt example which later inspired 'Don' and now 'Rowdy Rathore' and some others. Double role movies can conveniently be utilized in both, action in addition to comedy films," said trade analyst Vinod Mirani.
Recently, actress Vidya Balan made her first attempt at a double avatar - a dream she could live way to an endorsement maintain a brand new range of snacks brand Aliva. "I USED TO BE attending to play a double role. Only Sridevi and Hemaji (Hema Malini) have done it to this point. I'VE always desired to do a double role and we do not have double roles for some reason in films any more," Vidya had said.
In recent times, Shahid Kapoor carried off the double role well with "Kaminey".
The formula have been a winner in yesteryears. Be it Dev Anand in "Hum Dono", Dilip Kumar in "Ram Aur Shyam", Rajesh Khanna in "Aradhana", Rakhee in "Sharmilee", Hema Malini in "Seeta Aur Geeta", Amitabh Bachchan in "Don" and "Satte Pe Satta", Sridevi in "Chaalbaaz", Anil Kapoor in "Kishen Kanhaiya", Salman Khan in "Judwaa", Kajol in "Dushman" and Shah Rukh Khan in "Don" and "Duplicate"-most of Bollywood's top stars was there and done the double dhamaal!
