‘I Have Ideas For Two Sequels For Andaz Apna Apna’

‘I
may
not
have
accrued
a
large
bank
balance,
but
I
think
I’ve
earned
something
far
valuable.
Respect.’
‘That’s
what

Andaz
Apna
Apna
brought
me,
and
I
wouldn’t
exchange
that
respect
for
any
amount
of
money
in
the
world.’

Everyone’s
favourite
movie

Andaz
Apna
Apna
completed
30
years
on
November
4,
and
its
Director

Rajkumar
Santoshi
goes
back
down
memory
lane
to
celebrate
the
film.

“I
don’t
believe
in
creating
a
franchise
by
doing
sequels.
But
the
demand
for
a
sequel
to

Andaz
Apna
Apna
is
unbelievable.
If
I
don’t
do
it,
someone
else
will.
That
I
won’t
allow,”
Santoshi
tells

Subhash
K
Jha

Is

Andaz
Apna
Apna
your
most
important
film
to
date?

In
terms
of
reach
and
durability,
yes.

It
is
a
more
important
film
than
my
serious
film,

Ghayal,
Ghatak
or

Lajja.

Laughter
has
a
longer
life.

I
am
so
glad

Andaz
Apna
Apna
is
able
to
provide
laughter
for
generations.

Today
when
I
see
the
kind
of
comedy
that
is
doing
well,
I
feel
depressed.

There
is
no
dignity
in
what
they
are
serving
up
as
comedy.

I
may
not
have
accrued
a
large
bank
balance,
but
I
think
I’ve
earned
something
far
valuable.
Respect.

That’s
what

Andaz
Apna
Apna
brought
me,
and
I
wouldn’t
exchange
that
respect
for
any
amount
of
money
in
the
world.

Today,
I
see
people
celebrating
their
own
films.

Arrey
bhai,
the
world
should
celebrate
your
cinema,
not
you.

What
is
the
point
of
spending
lakhs
on
booze
and
food
to
remind
people
of
your
achievement?

I
am
happy
to
say
my
next

Lahore
1947
is
another
film
that
I
am
very
proud
of.

Whether
it
is

Andaz
Apna
Apna
or

Lahore
1947,
I
have
never
made
a
film
I
am
ashamed
of.

The
film’s
breezy
songs
added
to
its
appeal.

Music
composer
Tushar
Bhatia
was
a
man
of
principle.

He
has
done
very
little
work
besides

Apna
Apna
Apna.
He
was
not
willing
to
compromise
for
the
sake
of
success.

During
the
making
of
the
film,
did
you
think
it
would
go
this
far?

Never!
We
made
a
clean
comedy
with
a
lot
of
situational
humour
and
no
double
meanings.

No
vulgarity,
no
double
meanings,
no
mixing
of
comedy
with
horror,
just
plain
unadulterated
fun.

Were
all
of
you
laughing
while
doing
the
scenes?

Of
course
we
were.
We
were
laughing
so
hard
that
sometimes,
we
had
to
stop
the
shoot
and
gather
ourselves
together
before
resuming.

The
DOP
(director
of
photography)
Ishwar
Bidri
would
sometimes
fall
off
the
camera!

We
had
to
call
cut
and
start
the
sequence
again
and
recapture
the
comic
timing
of
the
interrupted
scene.

The
actors
were
fantastic.
Not
only
Aamir
Khan,
Salman
Khan,
Raveena
Tandon
and
Karisma
Kapoor
but
also
Paresh
Rawal
who
had
a
double
role,
Shakti
Kapoor
whose
Crime
Master
Gogo
was
a
rage,
Shehzaad
Khan
doing
a
takeoff
on
his
father
Ajit
and
Viju
Khote,
who
is
no
longer
with
us.

All
of
them
contributed
to
making

Andaz
Apna
Apna
what
it
is.

Yet,
the
film
did
not
do
well
at
the
box
office.

People
keep
saying
that.

But
the
truth
is,
we
did
nothing
to
promote
the
film.

There
was
no
publicity,
not
from
Aamir
or
Salman.
Not
even
me!

I
was
not
in
town
when
the
film
was
released.

We
released
the
film
without
any
fanfare.

How
did
the
project
happen?

I
still
remember
when
Producer
Vinay
Sinha
had
come
to
me
with
the
idea
of
doing
a
film
with
Aamir
Khan.

Vinayji
used
to
look
after
Aamir’s
work.
He
convinced
me
to
do
a
film
with
him
through
my
stomach.
I
remember
he
had
brought
the
most
delicious

khana
for
me
and
then
he
suggested
we
do
something
different
with
Aamir.

I
had
just
done
two
back-to-back
serious
films

Ghayal
and

Damini.

So
we
decided,
why
not
a
comedy?

So
Aamir
came
on
board
first?

Yes.
After
Aamir,
Salman
came
into
the
picture.

Both
were
very
big
stars
by
then,
but
they
had
no
problems
working
together.

During
the
shooting,
they
became
better
friends.

Was
the
humour
improvised?

Not
at
all!
I
don’t
work
that
way.

I
direct
my
actors
very
closely.

I
work
out
the
scenes
along
with
dialogues
well
in
advance.
There
is
very
little
room
for
improvisation.

All
the
jokes
and
gags
were
worked
out
beforehand.

People
think
Aamir
and
Salman
decided
to
call
themselves
Amar
and
Prem
to
celebrate
the
movie

Amar
Prem.
But
their
names
had
nothing
to
do
with
Shakti
Samanta’s
film.

Aamir’s
exclamation
‘Aila‘
and
Salman’s
‘Oui
Maa‘
were
also
my
idea.

Even
during
that
sequence
where
Salman
is
fed

julaab
(laxative)
and
his
love
confessions
are
repeatedly
interrupted
by
his
rumbling
stomach,
that
‘gud-gud-gud‘
sound
to
Salman’s
dialogues
was
being
given
by
me
from
behind
the
camera.

This
was
your
first
attempt
at
comedy?

Yes.
Salman
and
Aamir
came
together
for
the
first
and
so
far
only
time.

Paresh
Rawal
was
a
screen
villain
before

Andaz
Apna
Apna;
we
gave
him
a
comic
image.

We
revived
the
‘Ajit-Robert’
jokes
with
Ajit’s
son
playing
an
Ajit
carbon
copy.

Raveena
and
Karisma
Kapoor
were
brought
together
and
they
exchanged
screen
names.
Raveena
was
named
Karisma
and
vice
versa.

How
were
we
to
know
the
jokes
would
work
so
well?

Comic
writing
depends
on
how
much
humour
the
writer
can
generate
from
the
given
situations.

Will
there
be
a
sequel?

I
don’t
believe
in
creating
a
franchise
by
doing
sequels
or
building
on
my
brand.

But
the
demand
for
a
sequel
to

Andaz
Apna
Apna
is
unbelievable.

If
I
don’t
do
it,
someone
else
will.
That
I
won’t
allow.

I
have
ideas
for
two
sequels.
One
of
them
is
about
Amar
and
Prem
married
and
their
life
thereafter.