Baahubali Prabhas to Judwaa Varun, Sikh Arjun and 2.0 Rajinikanth – Double roles galore for Bollywood

By Joginder Tuteja -

May 3, 2017 - 10:16 AM IST

There was a time in the 70s, 80s and even 90s when double roles were in vogue. 'Ek ke saath ek free' could well have been an offer back then! Then over a period of time this became a rarity. Aamir Khan [Dhoom 3], Shah Rukh Khan [Fan], Salman Khan [Prem Ratan Dhan Payo], Kangana Ranaut [Tanu Weds Manu Returns], Akshay Kumar [Rowdy Rathore], Ajay Devgn [Action Jackson] and Sunny Leone [Mastizaade] did come up with a double role avtar during last few years. However, by and large these experiments have been rare.

Baahubali Prabhas to Judwaa Varun, Sikh Arjun and 2.0 Rajinikanth – Double roles galore for Bollywood

Well, coming months are set to be an exception as there would be at least four films hitting the screens where the leading man would be seen in a double role.

Prabhas - Baahubali 2 - The Conclusion [released]
Prabhas has pretty much started from where he left with Baahubali: The Beginning [2015], as he has reprised the title role with the film's sequel. He played both father and son in the first part of the SS Rajamouli created saga and now that the story is being taken to its conclusion, he is being seen in the same zone. Yet again, the actor has lived up to the expectations of getting into the high decibel action and drama mode.

Arjun Kapoor - Mubarakan [July 28]
Arjun Kapoor too has done it before. He took this brave step very early in his career as he played a double role in Aurangzeb. In the Yash Raj Films' offering, he played siblings. One now waits to see whether in Mubarakan, he would be again seen in the twin roles of siblings or two men who are not related. Interestingly, he would be seen in a turbaned Sikh avtar for the Anees Bazmee affair with uncle Anil Kapoor in tow.

Varun Dhawan - Judwaa 2 [September 29]
For Varun Dhawan, stepping into a double role zone would be a first. He indeed has a huge challenge in hand as the film comes in the wake of David Dhawan and Sajid Nadadwala's Judwaa [1997] which had Salman Khan leading the show. Now in the sequel, he has to go one up and take the franchise to the next level. He is playing two parts - one who is a suave professional and another who is naughty 'tapori'.

Rajinikanth - 2.0 [Republic Day, 2018]
The most experienced of the lot, Rajinikanth would be back in a double role with 2.0. He has a knack for giving audiences a double of 'Rajini antics'. He did that in Robot, Kochadaiiyaan and Lingaa, and now that 2.0 is arriving, buzz in the town is that he would be seen in not just two but as many as five roles. Now that could well up the ante for the Shankar flick which has antagonist Akshay Kumar in multiple avtars too.