Andaz Apna Apna The Lingering Laughter Of a Timeless Comedy

Last night , I   came  back  from my private  screening of  Raj Kumar Santoshi’s  Andaz Apna Apna. The chuckles  never stop. They never did. Over the years this tour de ‘farce’ has  made a  place  among moviegoers as THE  go-to movie whenever the blues  bellow to get their dues.

There is nothing even remotely logical or sensible  about the farcical antics of Amar(Aamir Khan) and  Prem(Salman Khan) as they negotiate their way through a  screenplay that is  more a screamplay. Not a soul  in the audience would  imagine  for even a second  that the actors were given a  hardbound script. The improvisational  spirit is so high that the  narration often feels  like a bridge doddering  towards an impending collapse.The  shakedown never  happens even  though we feel the  characters are  going too far with their antics.

 More amusing than anything that the two Khans  do on screen is Salman trying to keep up with Aamir. This is  one of those rare films where  Salman makes an effort  match his  co-star’s wits. There is  a twinkle-eyed  sparkle  and  a genuine  innocence in his antics.

  Clearly Aamir plays the more intelligent of the two wastrels  who run away from the dictates of their respective fathers  played by Deven Verma and Jagdeep,the latter  from  Bhopal and probably an distant cousin to Banne Khan Bhopali in Sholay.

Curiously  there  are no mothers in Andaz Apna Apna. None of  the  four  protagonists has one. Raveena(known  by her real name in the film until it is  revealed that she is  not Raveena  but Karisma) has a millionaire father(played  by Paresh Rawal) who has an evil twin brother .The twins  are named, no surprises here, Ram and Shyam.

All these  characters seem to have  written themselves out. They are not to be taken seriously. Nothing is to be given much thought.Least  of all the two biggest faffers  in the  history of  Hindi cinema. Let’s  just say, if  Jai and  Veeru in Sholay were not assigned  to  get Gabbar they would be Amar and  Prem  in Andaz Apna Apna.

31  years after  it was originally released, Andaz Apna Apna  remains  the invincible innocuous  blueschaser. You can catch  any episode in the galloping  storytelling for a    guffaw. In that sense it is more  like  a series than  a feature film. The laughter  is  not selflimiting.If Aamir pretending to have amnesia tickles your funnybone, what  about Salman rushing repeatedly to  the  loo  after  being tricked into  a meal laced with  laxatives?

 The  standup comedians never sit down  for a breather. Whether it is Tiku Talsania  as an irked cop  or  comic virtuoso Mehmood as a fake  film producer, the actors are given  a liberal leeway  to do their own  thing. While thee are  in their element, I found Shehzad Khan doing a flawless takeoff on his  father Ajit, to be priceless in his  parodic avatar.

Admittedly some  of the gags have  become outmoded with  time.  But even in its flatter moments, the laughter  never  fades away entirely. Andaz  Apna  Apna  is  that  precious box of  assorted biscuits  from our past which we would  dig into whenever  we needed  a snack-boost. It is  loads  of fun and  completely free  of innuendos.Go, enjoy this  blast from the past.