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I knew from the moment that I stumbled upon a song that had Shah Rukh Khan dressed in drag that I had to see this movie. I was not disappointed. I've seen very few Hindi comedies, but most of them left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. I thought maybe I didn't get Indian humour, but I think all I needed was a good dose of old fashioned comic masala, which is precisely what Mahesh Bhatt's Duplicate has done for me. Slapstick comedy, evil villains, great music, mistaken identities: all of it translates into what has become #1 on my list of favorite comedies so far.

First, I have to mention that when I put this film on, for some reason I could not get the subtitles to turn on. However, I really wanted to see it, so on I forged. Something has to be said for a director who can convey the subject matter of his film beyond the barrier of language, which is exactly what happened for me. I knew what was going on from the first frame to the last despite my preschool Hindi (although I did understand some of the dialogues which made me very excited). Without seeing any of the great masala films from the 70's, I imagine that this film has some plot elements that would be right at home (death by television anyone!). However, there was one thing that had my sides splitting that was completely unintentional I'm sure. There is one scene where Babloo gets slammed into a large ceramic looking vase and instead of it falling and breaking, it simply dents a little when it falls. Classic.

Performance wise, this movie belonged to Shah Rukh Khan. Not only does he do a fantastic job of playing the naive, yet completely charming and perfectly innocent aspiring chef Babloo, and his nemesis, the leather wearing, evil gangster Manoo, but he maintains a distinction so clear between the characters that there was no mistaking who is on screen. When Babloo does impersonations of Manoo's tongue tweeks, I couldn't help but laugh hysterically. His nervous energy works in this film and I quite honestly couldn't picture anyone else even pulling it off. This is the Shah Rukh that is an acquired taste for sure with all of his over the top facial expressions and dialogue delivery, but is also a vital component in what makes Bollywood fun!

Duplicate features a full rounded cast too. Juhi Chawla plays Sonia Kapoor, the object of Babloo's affection and his boss. She is exactly as she should be in this film: sweet, comical and totally in her element. Farida Jalal, like Juhi, is always a pleasure to watch on screen particularly when she is given interesting roles like Babloo's strong, clingy, caring and loving Be-Be. Sonali Bendre is good as Lily, Manoo's girlfriend, though not a performance that lingers (though her sexy outfits do make her stand out while on screen). For me, she's the best in the song picturizations.

Have I said I love the music from this film? The picturizations are sometimes cute, sometimes funny, but all the time memorable and absolutely catchy and fun. Usually I post one or two songs I like, but it was so hard for me to narrow down my faves, so I've posted 4 of the 6 songs.

Babloo is probably the sweetest character Shah Rukh has played (though he does comes close in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. How could anyone resist that smile?



Well, what movie would be complete without the standard falling in love song?



Torn between two women is hard I suppose. I love how Babloo continues to snub Lily's advances for his imaginary Juhi. We know where his heart lies.



The tune for Ladna Jhagadna reminds me of a nursery rhyme song or something from The Sound of Music, but regardless it's still instantly catchy. Plus, kudos has to go to the costumers for coming up with Manoo's *ahem* interesting shiny metallic spandex top.



Sorry for the lack of pictures. My dvd drive in my laptop is not working. Argh Dell!!! And there seems to be a lack of any pictures on the web. Darn it anyway.

Final thoughts: I loved this movie so much I want to rewatch it right away. I'm sure there are other comedies out there that might be better, but this one was just perfect for me. I'm starting to get really torn over whether or not I prefer Shah Rukh now or his earlier stuff. Makes me wish I'd grown up watching him.