The lead hero playing twins is a trend that goes back decades in Tamil cinema. But it continues to excite both filmmakers and audience even today, with last week’s Vijay Antony’s Annadurai following in the footsteps of previous successes.
Every hero worth his salt ticks off this box, as it gives him the opportunity to essay starkly contrasting roles in the same film. The hero’s fans also love this as his acting skills, histrionics and charisma are all showcased in the same film as one fine ‘mass masala’ package. Such films are also seen as safe bets by the trade.
When news breaks out that a proven hero is going to play twins, the hype for the film soars to a higher plane.
Same, but different
So, what excites directors when they have their hero enacting twins? Durai Senthilkumar, who presented the concept in the Dhanush-starrer Kodi, says, “If it’s the first such film for a hero, it’ll be fresh and exciting. Kodi was Dhanush’s first double action film. I wanted to avoid the usual dual role clichés, like role reversal. And contrary to the usual norm, the twins didn’t have full length roles as the death of one of the brothers was a key turning point in the story. The ‘twinless twin’ angle too helped the film and Dhanush performed really well in bringing out subtle changes and also differentiating both roles during the dubbing. Quality actors like him do such twin role films really well; it’ll be like having two different people.”
Two roles, two extremes
Aalavandhan will always be remembered for the extreme contrasts in Kamal Haasan’s roles. While one of the twins was a suave commando, the other was a violent paranoid schizophrenic psychopath. Kamal pulled off both roles with ease.
The film’s director, Suresh Krissna, says, “Kamal sir had done numerous films playing multiple roles. If he had to take up yet another dual role film, we needed to challenge him. Dhayam was a novel written by him for a magazine long back, and it talked about a pair of twin brothers, one being an ‘animal’ (Nandhu) and the other a ‘trained animal’ (Vijay). We wanted this contrast and started off from there. The ‘animal’ had to literally look the part, and that’s why Kamal sir went bald and bulked up like never before.”
He goes on to add, “The ‘trained animal’ was a dashing commando with a logical approach. Usually, most twin films fail to show the real difference between both brothers. To bring out this contrast, Kamal shot for Vijay first and then took on the Nandhu character. It was literally like having two different artistes playing the roles.”
Mass and class
Krissna adds how both roles meet different purposes. “Another interesting template in twin films is that all the mass entertainment elements will be kept aside for one of the brothers, while the motive (mostly revenge) and other serious portions of the script will be kept aside for the other brother.”
Producer Dhananjayan believes that it is the ‘contrast’ factor that makes a twin film work.
“ Uthama Puthiran is a benchmark film when it comes to twins. PU Chinnappa was amazing in 1940 and Sivaji Ganesan repeated the magic in 1958. Such films need strong contrast in characterisation and looks. Films where the twins didn’t have much of a difference invariably bombed. The concept of twins should be necessary to the story and it should also create a shock factor with one of the characters. Films like Aboorva Sagodharargal and Vaali are milestones too. Among the current heroes, Kamal and Ajith have a great success rate with twin films.”
Vijay Antony gives us the actor’s perspective, “I was heavily bearded for the Annadurai character, while I kept it trim for Thambidurai. That’s about it; I didn’t undergo any other special preparation to enact twins.
I am just myself in all my films. I laugh, cry and emote like how Vijay Antony is, in real life. I’m not trying to do what legends like Kamal sir or Sivaji sir have done.”
