Need A Good Laugh? Watch This Film This Weekend

‘Often,
the
actors
and
technicians
would
be
rolling
in
laughter
during
the
shooting.’

‘I
remember
our
brilliant
cinematographer
laughed
so
hard,
he
fell
off
his
trolley.’

Director

Rajkumar
Santoshi
hopes
his
cult
classic

Andaz
Apna
Apna
finds
a
better
welcome
in
theatres
than
it
did
when
it
released
way
back
in
1994.

He
tells

Subhash
K
Jha,
“The
entire
film
is
one
crazy
joyride
so
yes,
the
re-release
makes
sense. Its
reach,
appeal
and
impact
have
been
beyond
anything
I
ever
expected.”

How
do
you
feel
about
your
beloved
comedy
returning
to
the
theatres
on
April
25?

Very
good!
It’s
the
people’s
favourite
go-to
film
when
they
need
laughter.

The
entire
film
is
one
crazy
joyride
so
yes,
the
re-release
makes
sense.

Its
reach,
appeal
and
impact
have
been
beyond
anything
I
ever
expected.

I
still
remember
when
the
producer
Vinay
Sinha
came
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
film
with
him
through
my
stomach.

What
do
you
mean?

I
remember
he
had
brought
the
most
delicious

khana
for
me.
He
suggested
we
do
something
different
with
Aamir.

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

Ghayal
and

Damini.
We
decided,
why
not
a
comedy?
Little
did
we
know
that

Andaz
Apna
Apna
would
turn
out
to
be
such
a
laugh
riot
during
the
shooting
and
after
release.

Aksar
aisa
nahin
hota
hai.

Often,
the
actors
and
technicians
would
be
rolling
in
laughter
during
the
shooting.

I
remember
our
brilliant
cinematographer
laughed
so
hard,
he
fell
off
his
trolley.

But
when
the
comedy
reached
the
theatres,
audiences
wouldn’t
find
it
funny.

How
did
you
get
Aamir
and
Salman
to
agree
to
work
together?

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

During
the
shooting,
they
became
even
better
friends.

It
was
decided
we
would
script
a
laugh-a-thon
about
two
warring
buddies,
human
avatars
of
Tom
and
Jerry.

Was
the
humour
improvised?

Not
at
all!
I
don’t
work
that
way.

I
direct
my
actors
very
closely.

I
work
out
all
the
scenes
and
dialogues
well
in
advance.

There
was
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.

I
used
to
give
Aamir
and
Salman
cues
from
behind
the
camera.

Even
during
that
sequence
where
Salman
is
fed

julaab
and
his
love-confessions
are
repeatedly
interrupted
by
his
rumbling
stomach,
that
‘gud-gud-gud’
sound
was
being
given
by
me.

Salman
didn’t
know
when
the
sound
would
come,
and
added
to
the
scene’s
unpredictability.

Andaz
Apna
Apna
had
many
firsts
to
its
credit.

I
was
doing
comedy
for
the
first
time.

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
replica.

Raveena
Tandon
and
Karisma
Kapoor
were
brought
together.

Curiously,

Andaz
Apna
Apna
got
a
lukewarm
response
from
the
audience
when
it
was
released
on
April
11
,1994?

It
was
badly
marketed
and
distributed.

Nobody
knew
the
film
was
coming.

We
got
a
below
average
opening
but
over
the
years,
the
film
has
acquired
a
cult
status.

People
remember
all
the
dialogues.

If
you
had
a
chance
to
re-release
any
of
your
other
films,
which
would
it
be?

Lajja.
I
don’t
think
it
got
its
due.