After the success of Ram Aur Shyam, Dilip Kumar did a triple role in the film Bairaag (1976). In this film, he played a father and son. The idea of father and son became a hit and Amitabh Bachchan played quite many roles in this pattern like Adalat (1976), Desh Premee (1982), Aakhree Raasta (1986), Sooryavansham (1999). In fact, like Dilip Kumar, even Amitabh Bachchan attempted a triple role in Mahaan (1983) but tragically the film was a big flop despite a good performance by Amitabh Bachchan.
Dual Delight: Father-Son Duos That Rocked Bollywood
Interestingly father-son formula was a great success for the struggling actor Rajesh Khanna, who became an instant Superstar after Aradhana (1969). In this film, he played two roles. In the first half, he is a pilot but dies and in the second half, Rajesh Khanna again appeared on the screen as his son. Similarly, in Samadhi (1972), Dharmendra played a dacoit Lakhan Singh in the first half who accidentally kills the son of a Zamindaar and to solace Zamindaar’s grieving wife he gives away his son to Zamindaar. In the second half, Dharmendra played the dual role of an educated gentleman as his son Ajay.
Double Act: When Father and Son Unite on Screen
Sanjeev Kumar was another great actor who did many father-son roles in films like Vishwasghaat (1977), Biwi-O-Biwi (1981), etc. Raaj Kumar in Karmayogi (1978), Rajesh Khanna in Dharam Aur Kanoon (1984), Jeetendra in Justice Chowdary (1982) and Pyaasa Sawan (1981), Kamal Haasan in Indian (1996), Anil Kapoor in Bulandi ( 2000) and Hrithik Roshan in Krrish ( 2006).
The Mother-Daughter double role was not that successful
Like the male, even female stars played a dual role as mother and daughter but the formula was not a big success.
In this series, Suchitra Sen was the first actress to play the dual role of mother (Prostitute) and her lawyer daughter in the film Mamta (1966). Later Sharmila Tagore played a superlative mother-daughter role in Mausam (1975). In the 90’s Sridevi did a beautiful dual role in Lamhe (1991) and Khuda Gawah (1992). Madhuri Dixit in her entire career did just a single film in a double role. The film was Sangeet (1992). In this film she played mother and daughter the film had an emotional story but the film was a huge flop.
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