Aila! Oui Maa! Andaz Apna Apna was re-released on April 2025 across select Indian theatres, 31 years after it flopped at the box office. Now hailed as a comedy cult classic, why do we still ROFL on Andaz Apna Apna? Why do we keep discovering new jokes at every viewing?
I watched Andaz Apna Apna on the big screen at an iconic Pune theatre last month. It remains as mad and beautiful, mildly irritating and deliciously senseless. Here are 10 reasons why Andaz Apna Apna is still a laughathon king.
Andaz Apna Apna: First Symptoms of Madness
The important question is, what were writer, director Rajkumar Santoshi and co writer Dilip Shukla smoking while writing Andaz Apna Apna? But jokes apart, this is how it unfolded.
Santoshi was on a career high after the success of the Sunny Deol action blockbuster Ghayal (1990). It was then that Santoshi ended up discussing the prospect of a new movie with debutant movie producer Vinay Sinha. Santoshi has gleefully confessed that Sinha first lured him in with good food. Sinha was then managing Aamir Khan’s work, and knew Salman Khan’s father, noted movie writer Salim Khan. Santoshi and Sinha began conjuring a possible movie featuring both Aamir and Salman.
Santoshi thought – both Aamir and Salman were the current heartthrobs among women. How about making Aamir and Salman go after women instead? Eureka! Also, the two heroes would be chasing money, not love, would be another twist. Santoshi wrote an initial outline in two weeks. He narrated the idea to both stars. They liked it immediately, and told him to go ahead with expanding the idea into a full-fledged script.
 Archie Comics and Other Insanities
Santoshi was loosely inspired by Archie Comics characters for the lead parts. Amar (Aamir Khan) was based on the self-obsessed Reggie Mantle, while Prem (Salman Khan) was based on the naive, gullible but pure-hearted Archie Andrews. The cinematography, art direction, bright colours, art direction, were all doused in comic book touches.
Method in the MadnessÂ
Not everything was on paper, but Santoshi knew how exactly Amar and Prem would behave. Everything seems improvised, and there have been rumours that a lot was made up on set. But on the contrary, it was all Santoshi’s clear-minded genius.
Bathroom Comedy
Pauses and timing is very important in comedy, Santoshi stated once in his interview to Rajeev Masand. The interview was recorded on the eve of Andaz Apna Apna completing 25 years.
Santoshi calls it a symphony orchestra. He quotes an example from Prem’s laxative scene, where it was not marked on paper when Prem would feel the urge to relieve himself again. Salman Khan was to utter his dialogues, and act constipated whenever Santoshi would utter the ‘gud gud’ sounds on a mic. Thus eliciting an impromptu, spontaneous performance from Salman!
The O.P. Nayyar Musical Â
The Tushar Bhatia soundtrack was a deliberate tribute to the golden age of Hindi movie soundtracks (1950 – 1980). Both Bhatia and Santoshi were big O.P. Nayyar fans, and this reflects in particularly two songs.
Yeh Raat Aur Yeh Doorie would have easily been a Nayyar composition, a Mohd. Rafi duet with Asha Bhosle in the sixties. Instead, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam rocks it with Bhosle on this cute number, also for us 9PM Movies blokes, the best song of Andaz Apna Apna. Any Nayyar fan would spot the Nayyar horse hoof rhythm signature in Ello Ji Sanam Hum Aa Gaye, and the Rafi and Bhosle imitations done by Behroze Chatterjee & Vicky Mehta.
Tributes, Silliness Overload, Playing on ClichesÂ
Santoshi admitted that he and co writer Dilip Shukla were inspired by Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy movies. But the larger jokes, and why the movie has endured, is the celebration of eternal Hindi movie cliches, and also of cliches in any popular movie of any given genre.
That heroes have it easy, that one of the twins needs to be evil, sidekicks and villains need to be dumb at crucial situations, that amnesia is a joke in Hindi movies, laxative jokes, also the cliche of the blind mother and unwed sister.
Overtly emotional Hindi movies, finale fight resolutions, loud background music and effects, heroines falling for loafing heroes at the drop of a hat (because they are ‘heroes’), all is touched on in Andaz Apna Apna in hilarious ways.
Unashamed SillinessÂ
Andaz Apna Apna is one of those rare movies where almost every other line, my bad…every line of uttered dialogue, almost every mannerism is laugh out loud funny. I discover a new joke at very viewing.
The superb Govinda cameo, Robert-Bhalla chatter, Teja glooming over his incompetent assistants, the poultry farm monologue, that little piece of paper inside an empty purse, these are just a few among the zillion fun things that work for Andaz Apna Apna. No other Hindi comedy movie has its jokes and gags working every minute of its running time.
Great Casting, Ideal Power EquationsÂ
There are certain movies that only young stars at a certain age can play. Older stars playing Amar, Prem, Karishma and Raveena would have looked cringy, to say the least. Aamir, Salman, Karishma and Raveena were at the right age. They were not yet stars mammoth enough to dictate creative choices. This equation helped Rajkumar Santoshi helm Andaz Apna Apna with utmost creative abandon.
Every Character Dazzles
How Paresh Rawal aced the evil twin and the good twin were a revelation. A lesser actor could have dulled proceedings here. Also, the tragically underrated Viju Khote as Robert was a hoot. The brainwave to get actor Ajit’s son Shehzaad to mimic his father was another Hindi film nod. Crime Master Gogo was the x factor. Shakti Kapoor hams through, yet syncs with the movie’s insane, wild tone and it works!
Movie Genre CulminationÂ
There are a few movies that collect and culminate a movie genre. Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975) was not a stunningly original Indian western. But it brought together the best elements of the genre. Andaz Apna Apna is a spoof culmination of every Hindi film cliche, from Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) to Darr (1993). It is at best, a well-coordinated grand accident, one that will keep us waiting for the long awaited sequel.
The Andaz Apna Apna Sequel
Rajkumar Santoshi had revealed five years ago, that he was half way through a sequel script called Ada Apni Apni. He had written it for a younger cast. There have been no further updates for Ada Apni Apni, till date. Santoshi had been writing a true blue sequel featuring older characters to be pitched to Aamir Khan and Salman Khan. There have been no updates on that either.
Until then, here’s to catching Andaz Apna Apna for the umpteenth time, and laughing one’s heart, liver, kidneys out.
(Article by Snehith Kumbla)