Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; September 4, 2017)

Any rumour about an Andaz Apna Apna sequel or remake is enough to spark a long debate over the casting. And this, even though there have been no developments worth reporting.

A recent meeting with actor Paresh Rawal, who played a double role — Teja and Ram Gopal Bajaj — in the ’90s cult classic, leads to the inevitable question: should AAA be remade? He replies, “It should be touched only if there’s a really great script — something as funny as the original — in place.”

As it is highly unlikely that Aamir and Salman Khan will return in any capacity for an AAA remake/sequel, the next most obvious question is casting for the lead roles. Pat comes his response, “Varun (Dhawan) will be fantastic as Prem. He has the charm, personality and characteristics to play Salman’s role. Amar should ideally be played by Ranbir (Kapoor). Then again, I name him for every film because I believe he’s the best actor this country has at the moment.”

Shedding light on the making of the original film, which, surprisingly, flopped on its theatrical release (see box), Paresh shares, “When we made the film, there were three shots going on simultaneously with different actors. The story was always funny and it was made like a typical comedy film, but neither did Rajkumar Santoshi nor anyone from the cast think it would become such a cult classic.”

FLOP SE CULT CLASSIC TAK
AAA has aged well, with repeated viewings. However, the film didn’t do well at all during its theatrical run, becoming a cult classic only in the years since. It came as a surprise to everyone that the film — featuring two top young stars of the ’90s and fresh (at the time) female faces and known comedians and a hit-making director — wasn’t publicised well. It did well in big cities, recovering the creation cost, but not doing as well as hoped. Bigger films released at the time were cited as reasons for the film’s failure. However, the film’s laugh-a-minute lines and evergreen humour has withstood the test of time. Cliched, we know, but true!

DID YOU KNOW?
The mahurat clap was given by Sachin Tendulkar (yes, the cricketing legend!).

The film took three years to make.

The film was originally written as an Aamir Khan vehicle. Salman was added to the cast later.

Cartoon characters Tom & Jerry were reference points for Amar and Prem.

Raveena Tandon Thadani, who played one of the female leads, would later say that a cartoon remake would make more sense than a sequel.

Director Rajkumar Santoshi has stated in many interviews that he is considering making a sequel.