Duplicate (1998 film)

Duplicate is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film  directed by Mahesh Bhatt. It stars Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role, with Juhi Chawla and Sonali Bendre playing supporting roles. The film portrays Shah Rukh Khan playing a dual role as Bablu, an aspiring chef and Manu, a notorious gangster. It marked Khan's first of many collaborations with Dharma Productions. At the 43rd Filmfare Awards, the film received 2 nominations – Best Villain (Khan) and Best Lyricist (Javed Akhtar for "Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam").

Plot
Bablu, a bubbly and childish young man, is an aspiring chef who always prays to God whenever he gets the chance. Manu, who is a very big gangster and an exact duplicate of Bablu, is meanwhile getting chased by the police. He eventually gets caught, but swiftly gets his way out of getting arrested.

On his way to a job interview, Bablu meets Sonia Kapoor, a charming and beautiful hotel catering manager, in a cab. They argue over who should get the cab, but eventually figure out that they are going to the same place; Bablu is going to a job interview with Sonia. Bablu eventually gets hired as the head chef at the hotel after showing off his cooking skills, and meets the hotel's owner who has a crush on Sonia, even though Sonia doesn't reciprocate his feelings. Throughout the film, the manager tries his hardest to get Bablu and Sonia broken up, and Bablu fired. As Sonia and Bablu continue to work with each other, Bablu falls in love with her.

One day, when Bablu takes Sonia out for lunch trying to express his feelings, he gets arrested after the police mistake him for Manu. Bablu is able to prove his true identity, but not before Manu hears of his duplicate. Bablu is given an identity card by the police, and goes home happily only to be met by Manu and his goons. Manu tries to kill Bablu and take his place, but Manu threatens him that they have to switch places if he wants him and his loved ones to survive, forcing Bablu to unwillingly accept. 

Due to his womanizing nature, Manu beings to flirt with Sonia, posing as Bablu, who notices that his behavior has changed drastically, and rejects Manu. Manu becomes extremely frustrated and continues to try and flirt with her. At the same time, Lily, Manu's girlfriends, also tries flirting with Bablu, posing as Manu, after falling in love with his "new" personality. Bablu rejects her as well, since he is madly in love with Sonia. Regardless, Bablu starts teaching all of Manu's gang members, including Lily, about morals.

One day, Manu arrives at Bablu's house, still posing as him, and sees that the light is on. He thinks that the real Bablu is inside and starts calling out for him, but is surprised to see that it is Bablu's mother. She thinks Bablu is drunk since Manu who is posing as Bablu is calling out for Bablu, so she scolds him and tells him to go to sleep. Soon Bablu and Manu switch back since the police have given up on looking for Manu. Manu decides he wants to kill Bablu and calls Bablu's mother and Sonia to an abandoned and rundown location so that Sonia and Bablu can get married, trapping them. Meanwhile, Bablu realizes he has lost a lot of his money, and thinking Manu did it, locates him, falling into Manu's trap as well. At the same exact time, the police have tracked down who they think is Manu, but is really Bablu, and follow him to the rundown location. The police arrive before Bablu, but Sonia intervenes and tells them they have the wrong guy, thinking Manu is Bablu. All of a sudden, the real Bablu arrives at the location and tells the police that the other man is Manu. Causing more confusion, Manu reappears and says he is Bablu. However, Bablu's mom says that Bablu was a big wrestler before he came to Mumbai and she says whoever pulls her to their respective side is the real Bablu. Bablu and Manu begin pulling, and when Bablu sees his mother in pain, he lets go, letting Manu win. Manu believes this proves he is "Bablu", thinking now the real Bablu will get shot and killed, but Bablu's mother reveals that the real Bablu would never let his mother be in pain. Manu reveals that he has a gun, and tries shooting Bablu, but before he can do that, Lily shoots him dead from behind. She reveals that because Bablu taught her how to be a good person, she decided to save the day. Regardless of Lily being in love with Bablu, Bablu and Sonia get married, ending the film on a good note.

Cast
Shah Rukh Khan as Bablu Chaudhary / Manu Dada (dual role)  
Juhi Chawla as Sonia Kapoor (bablu's love interest)
Sonali Bendre as Lily (manu's love interest)
Mohnish Behl as Ravi Lamba (Sonia's Hotel Manager)
Farida Jalal as Mrs. Chaudhary, "Bebe" 
Tiku Talsania as Inspector R. K. Thakur
Gulshan Grover as Shalaku
Sharat Saxena as Dhingra
Naushaad Abbas as Henchman
Rana Jung Bahadur as Gappa
Kajol as Simran Singh, the girl on the station (uncredited cameo)
Vishwajeet Pradhan as Tony (special appearance)

Soundtrack

The songs featured in the film are composed by Anu Malik with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar. The songs were rendered by Kavita Krishnamurthy, Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Kumar Sanu, and Udit Narayan. The songs "Ek Sharaarat (La Lai Lai)" and "Ladna Jhagadna" became hit songs, while "Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam" became one of the blockbuster songs of the year.

Box office 

Duplicate grossed  in India and $1 million (4.10 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of , against its  budget. It had a worldwide opening week of . It is the 12th-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1998 worldwide.

Overseas

It grossed $375,000 (1.53 crore) in its first week and earned a total of $1 million (4.10 crore) outside India. Overseas, it is the 3rd-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1998 behind Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ($6.3 million (21.49 crore)) and Dil Se.. ($2.32 million (9.86 crore)), which were also Shah Rukh Khan starrers.

Awards and nominations

1999 Filmfare Awards

Bollywood Movie Awards

Zee Cine Awards

Release
Duplicate's DVD was released by Ultra Media & Entertainment. Duplicate's television premiere occurred on Zee TV.

References

External links
 

1998 films
1990s Hindi-language films
Films about lookalikes
Films scored by Anu Malik
Films shot in the Czech Republic
Films directed by Mahesh Bhatt
Films with screenplays by Robin Bhatt
Films shot in Switzerland
Indian action comedy films
Indian crime comedy films
1998 action comedy films
1990s crime comedy films