Deepali Singh (DNA; July 26, 2017)

If in response to somebody exclaiming ‘Aila’, your immediate reaction has been to loudly say ‘Juhi Chawla!’ then you’re a true-blue Andaz Apna Apna fan. The 1994 rib-tickling comedy was a damp squib at the box office when it released, but later, thanks to its crazy one-liners, the bromance between the bumbling heroes Amar and Prem, the Raveena-Karishma and the Teja-Bajaj confusion, not to forget the crazy antics of Bhalla, Robert and Crime Master Gogo, the film is a cult-comedy today. Fans have often expressed the desire to see a sequel of the movie. An equal number of people would probably not want to see a sequel, as they don’t want to see a classic ruined.

While there have been many speculations about the sequel and whether Amar-Prem’s original jodi, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, will be back for it or not, director Rajkumar Santoshi has some good and some not-so-good news for the movie’s fans.

Sequel will happen, but...
Yes, a sequel to the comic caper is very much in the offing, says Santoshi. However, Santoshi says he doesn’t want to en-cash on the original. “I want to make a worthy successor. What other filmmakers do is encash on a successful film’s title, whether there is a story or not. I can’t cheat people with the title. The day I’m satisfied with the subject being the worthy successor, I will get on the floor with the movie,” he says.

Why Salman-Aamir won’t do...
As for the film’s original cast coming together, Santoshi says that “it’s very difficult”. He explains his stance, “For humour, you need innocence. That time, these actors had the innocence. Now, it will look forced. It looks cute if a 20 year old is chasing a girl. A 45-50 year old man chasing young girls looks vulgar.”

Ranveer, Ranbir or Varun?
It’s not as if there is a dearth of talented young actors to choose from. “There is Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan... They are all promising actors and they have the knack for comedy. I will pick up good talent for the film,” he signs off.