Duplicate
Director: Mahesh Bhatt
Music: Anu Malik; Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Year: 1998
Running Time: 2 hours 34 minutes
One characteristic of Indian cinema that
might strike those from the West as rather odd is the frequency in which
film plots revolve around look-alikes. While in the West this plot device
has generally become relegated to either horror or Jean Claude Van Damme
films, in India it is considered a high status award for an actor to be in
a film in which he gets to convey two different roles. At some point practically
every male star (and many female stars) has had such a project and in fact
according to one book* I read the man considered India’s greatest actor, Amitabh
Bachchan, was in over ten films in which he had double roles.
In Duplicate the actor honored with a double role is Shahrukh Khan and he
approaches this opportunity with delightful relish and creates two distinct
and in their own way intriguing characters. His Babloo is a complete simpering
mama’s boy, while his Manu is a snarling dangerous criminal. Watching Shahrukh
shift between the two of them gives you a good idea why he is considered
by many to be India’s finest modern actor. Everything about them is different
from the voice, the look, the facial expressions, vocal delivery and body
language and yet both feel like complete characters. Babloo is all pursed
lip respectability and Manu is animalistic fury who can handle a woman or
a gun with equally rough efficiency. Since the film is generally a broad
comedy, Shahrukh brings a bit of caricature to them both, but avoids overstepping
the boundary of silliness and manages to make Babloo very endearing and Manu
frightening.
Babloo loves cooking and his mother (Farida Jalal) to the point of almost
being a fetish – at one point he sleeps in the same bed as mom and at another
dances with various vegetables! He dreams of becoming a chef and gets his
chance when he bowls over a banquet manager (Juhi Chawla) with his simplistic
charm. He is given a test – to prepare a Japanese meal within fifteen minutes
and in a musical showstopper that Busby Berkely would be proud of Shahrukh
spins through the kitchen making merry with cooking utensils, food and a
bevy of beautiful black or plaid skirted apprentices.
At the same time this is occurring, Manu has escaped from maximum security
and is intent on reaping retribution on the ex-gang members who set him up.
A master of disguise, Manu infiltrates their locations – one time attired
as a vampish female dancer – and at another time just as he is about to be
discovered in a cabaret he seamlessly joins the dance on stage – and kills
them off one by one. In a John Woo inspired set piece, Manu has a shoot out
with the gang that has bodies flying and encompasses Woo’s classic gun to
the head stand off as well as the famous Chow Yun Fat two guns blazing back
on the ground move. When he is not busy killing, Manu finds the chance to
make mattress time with his cabaret dancer girlfriend – the hot as melting
steel, Sonali Bendre, who torches the screen in her dance numbers.
Things are looking good for Manu until he decides to mix it up with the quivering
but determined lip of Babloo – big mistake! Realizing that he has a duplicate,
Manu tries to take advantage of the situation by taking Babloo’s place –
even to romancing Juhi – but this proves too much for sweet Babloo and he
finds his hidden backbone and decides to take Manu’s place. In a few delicious
scenes, they face off against one another with Shahrukh in a sense now creating
four characters – as their impersonations of each other are just enough off
to make them amusing – especially Babloo trying to be menacing and salacious
with his tongue but getting it all wrong. It’s all lightweight goofy stuff
(with some decent action though) that should be covered with a thick layer
of dust, but the simple charm of the film and the performers has a way of
winning you over. Shahrukh is great to watch in his various incarnations,
but he also receives very good support from the winsome Juhi and the sensuous
Sonali. Also as an added pleasure - look for the quick as a blink cameo from
Kajol at the train station.
Thrown into this mix are some solid bouncy tunes, but the real strength of
the musical pieces is the infectious choreography from Farah Khan and the
energy of the actors. The kitschy kitchen number – Wahji Wah – with its wailing
sax is great fun, in Keh Rahi Hai Sonali sizzles as she first rips out your
eyeballs attired in black hotpants an then goes through various costume changes
that all compliment her fabulous gams and the other songs are hummable and
charming as well.
My rating for this film: 7.5
* - Bollywood: The
Indian Cinema Story by Nasreen Munni Kabir
