One Man ,Two Roles - In History Of Cinema

By Arindom Deka | 5.6k | 28 Aug 2017

With the release of the latest Judwaa 2 starring Varun Dhawan as he tries to recreate the magic of the Salman Khan starrer blockbuster, we look back at some of the best movies of all time starring people in double roles.

Playing multiple characters in the same film is a tough job. Not only do the actors have to make themselves fit in both the roles but also they have to change their characters every time and it also is a whole lot of work for the special effects team. But somehow they still nail it. Listed below are some of my favorite movies with double roles.

Dilip Kumar in Ram Aur Shyam

Dilip Kumar's iconic performances as the two polar opposite twin brothers in the movie earned him a Filmfare award and also he shocked everyone with his comedic chops at a time when he was known as the 'Tragedy King'. This movie marked the dawn of twin roles in Bollywood and inspired dozens of other movies like Seeta aur Geeta, Chaalbaaz and Kishen Kanhaiya.

Rajesh Khanna in Sachaa Jhutha

The movie to introduce a thrill ride with double roles in Bollywood. Rajesh Khanna stars as an innocent poor musician and a rich businessman/thief, and they are not related by blood at all. The movie was well received at it's time as it was not just a great comedy movie but also was a good heist movie at it's time.

Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma in Angoor

Considered as one of the best comedy movies of Bollywood, this movie features not one, but two actors in double roles, played by Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Sharma.

Hema Malini in Seeta Aur Geeta

The dream girl, Hema Malini created magic when she appeared as the twin sisters, who are totally opposite of each other. On one hand is Seeta, a naive girl who is abused by her aunt and on the other hand is Geeta, a feisty street smart street-performer who lives by her own rules. The movie is still considered a classic and an inspiration to future movies featuring double roles.

Shahid Kapoor in Kaminey

The movie that shocked Bollywood and made turned Shahid Kapoor from the chocolate boy to a serious actor. It was a critically acclaimed blockbuster with many critics comparing director Vishal Bharadwaj to the likes of Tarantino.

Shah Rukh Khan in Fan

Starring SRK as a famous actor and also as his almost identical looking obsessed fan, this thriller was well praised for SRK's acting despite having few plotholes of it's own.

Shah Rukh Khan in Duplicate

FAN was not the first time when SRK portrayed two different characters. His first movie with double roles was the box-office hit Duplicate where SRK played both the hero, a small-time innocent chef and the antagonist, a don seeking revenge against his former partners. SRK manages to don both the characters perfectly, playing both the bubbly naive Bablu and the mean ruthless Manu with grace.

Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan

Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda are big names in the whole of Bollywood. In the movie, both of them play double roles, just like Angoor. But in this movie, one duo is a pair of cops while the other is pair of con-men. The movie was the comeback hit of Amitabh Bachchan and he proved that he has still not lost his game while partnering up with the comic duo of Govinda-David Dhawan.

Salman Khan in Judwaa

This funny comedy starred Salman Khan as two identical twins who were seperated during their birth. One grows up to be a quiet and matured guy while the other turns out to be a precocious and outgoing. This was Khan's first solo comedy and was a box-office success.

Varun Dhawan in Judwaa 2

Starring Varun Dhawan in double role, this reboot of the Salman Khan classic is set to release on 29th September. Will Varun be able to create the same magic that Bhai had?

Nicolas Cage in Adaptation.

You can criticize Nicolas Cage for whatever he is doing for a paycheck but you gotta admit, he has given some mindblowing performances in his lifetime. And one such example is Adaptation, where he portrays the real life self-loathing screenwriter of the movie, Charlie Kaufman and his fictionalized carefree brother Donald Kaufman. The movie has Cage at his best portraying two characters with great ease and earning him an Oscar nomination.

Jesse Eisenberg in The Double

Jesse Eisenberg stars as two polar opposite guys in this dark comedy thriller about a shy man and his charismatic rival, who looks exactly like him. Jesse Eisenberg gets into two very different roles and is able to nail them perfectly while being in the same exact clothes.

Sam Rockwell in Moon

Sam Rockwell's most amazing performance comes with Moon as he plays the same character. That's right the same character. Confusing? Well the real thing is a spoiler and I won't just reveal it right here. This is a visually beautiful movie and is one of the best science-fiction work of all time.

Armie Hammer in The Social Network

The Winklevoss brothers is an example of one of the best use of visual effects in movies. Director David Fincher used the techniques of digital grafting and split-screen photography to use Armie Hammer's face on top of his body double, Josh Pence's face to create the uncanny identical look of the Winklevoss twins. Apart from that, Hammer and Pence were also sent to a twin boot camp to learn more about the Winlevoss twins.

Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers

Jeremy Irons play identical twins who not only share the same profession, style, looks, clothes and even their women. This movie showcases the talent of Irons in a brilliant way where he portrays two different persons, who have the same interests but at the end of the day are totally opposite from one another. Out of all the performances in the list, this might be the only one for me where even I had difficulty in identifying the two different characters because Irons does it so perfectly blending into both the roles so well.

Jake Gyllenhaal in Enemy

Jake Gyllenhaal never ceases to amaze us and he did the same with the mind bending thriller Enemy where he plays a college professor and a wannabe actor in a complex story of how the former starts living the life of the latter and the circumstances that arise from the situation. The movie is complex and yet many people, including me, have come out with variuos interpretations of the movie.

Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

And finally the funniest man to be in two different roles, Mike Myers plays both the protagonist Austin Powers and the antagonist Dr. Evil in this over-the-top hilarious spoof of James Bond. The movie is remembered for it's crazy moments especially his dance sequence and well every scene that had him as Dr. Evil. The movie brought about what Myers did best, make people laugh.

Bonus: Lisa Kudrow in Friends

Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe is one of the most favorite weird person in the world of TV. And if you are a fan of FRIENDS, you definitely remember her sort of evil twin sister Ursula. Both the sisters hate each other but Ursula takes advantage of having a twin sister and does whatever she wants and later throws the blame on Phoebe. Although the character was quite brief and only in a few episodes, she still manages to steal the show.

For those of you who are wondering why a particular movie of Nolan is not on the list. It's because the movie doesn't really rely on the concept of twins and although I really love that movie, the movie focuses on the twins for a very short time, granted it was there in many parts of the movie. And if you are thinking why I haven't named the movie here, it's because it is a huge spoiler. And also Amitabh Bachchan's Don isn't in the list because both the characters never come together in the movie.