Subhash K Jha (DNA; March 26, 2014)

Salman Khan has played a double role only once in his 25-year-old career. It was 17 years ago in Judwaa. Now he is all set to star in two back-to-back double roles at around the same time.

The actor, who had made a commitment to himself that he would only do another double role after Judwaa when the film’s sequel will be made, now faces the dilemma of being in two back-to-back releases — Anees Bazmee’s No Entry Mein Entry and Sooraj Barjatya’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.

According to a source, “Salman doesn’t want to be seen in every frame of the films that he stars in. And if he does two back-to-back double roles he feels the audience will be subjected to an excess of his screen presence.” Not just that, he even has a third film for release in 2015 — Kabir Khan’s untitled one.

Bazmee has now been asked to ensure that Salman’s presence in his film is not a repeat performance of Barjatya’s film. Says the director, “We are aware that Salman is playing a double role in both films. Sooraj is a very different filmmaker from me. What he would be doing in his film would be very different from us. However, we are taking precautions to avoid any similarity. Two double roles needn’t be similar. Rajesh Khanna’s double role in Sachcha Jhootha was very different from his double role in Aradhana, though both the films came in the same year.”