Three decades ago, Rajkumar Santoshi’s Andaz Apna Apna pulled off a casting coup, bringing two of Hindi cinema’s rising stars Salman Khan and Aamir Khan in a single film. Over the years, the film has achieved cult status and is hailed as one of Indian cinema’s finest comedies. As the film celebrates its 30th anniversary, it is slated for a re-release in cinemas next year.

Veteran exhibitor Raj Bansal, who distributed Andaz Apna Apna through his now 70-year-old distribution company, says, “Whenever people talk about this film, they look at the initial numbers and declare it a flop. I distributed the film, and in my distribution territory Rajasthan, the film was a decent hit. In fact, I paid overflow to the producer – Overflow is the amount paid over the agreed amount when a film performs well. In Jaipur, the film ran for approximately eight weeks, which was huge at that time.”

Bansal explains, “When Andaz Apna Apna was released, the trend was that comedy films performed well in the southern states, Gujarat and Mumbai, while action films were doing better in Delhi and UP. Andaz Apna Apna didn’t perform as expected in UP and Delhi, but the film was never a flop. It was a decent hit at the time of its release.”

The family of the late producer Vinay Sinha says the same. Producer Priti Sinha says, “My brother Amod, who was also the AD on the film, pointed out that because it wasn’t promoted, people started believing the film didn’t perform well.”

Producer Priti Sinha shares, “It makes us really proud that even after 30 years, the film continues to resonate with movie buffs. Some years back, my sister Namrata met Salman, and he suggested re-releasing the film. The film will be re-released in a digitized, restored, and remastered 4K version. We are currently working on the sound, and once it’s complete, we’ll decide on a release date for next year.”