Ek Ticket, Ek Black Coffee. When you’re seeing double, watch the screens come alive…

They’re remaking Thadam? With Aditya Roy Kapur? The news had slipped past all the information deluge. But when we saw Aditya Roy Kapur, bless the lad, in The Night Manager, we loved his laconic, relaxed, yet alert portrayal of a man who isn’t what he says he is... And the brickbats he earned? Were from those who said he just didn’t look Bengali enough. Whatever does that mean! I like his shoulders. (If I could, I would be Doctor Frankenstein and create the perfect man... But that’s for another day), so seeing double should have been a treat. 

Not counting Shakespeare (who wrote about twins in Twelfth Night) using Twins in the movies is as old as the magic show on Lumiere Brothers shorts. The technology has evolved over decades, and the results are fascinating. This video explains to technophiles how twins are shot when making movies. 

But for the rest of us, here are some memorable movies with twins we have seen.

Evil Dhanush dances with abandon, and I loved him more than the good guy… 

There is a bit of mambo jumbo initially in the film that is irritating (especially with the daughter calling him ‘dada’) but the film is dark and creepy and excellent.

Malayalam film about twins is a singular study in measured acting. The violence will make your hackles rise, but Joji George is a gift to cinema. Two of him? Magic! One good guy and the other evil seems to be a formula but the unravelling will shake you. And to be able to tell two stories that are at once wonderful and at once despairing, you will empathise with the end…

From Kerala to London to see two gangster brothers who ruled the streets. Tom Hardy plays the Kray twins who were ruthless and ambitious. Their life is beautifully chronicled in the film that has a rich colour palette that is worth a view. Plus two of Tom Hardy…

‘Meri aarzoo kaminee/Mere khwaab bhi kaminey’ Gulzar wrote and we were bowled over by Shahid Kapoor’s performance in the movie about twins who do not want to be poor any more. But when their desperation meets corruption in the police and politics, the resulting storytelling by Vishal Bhardwaj was an instant hit. You come away not just singing Dhan Te Nan but reeling from the awesome performances.

All minions fans like yours truly had so much fun each time they tell another story about those adorable banana eating crew. But this movie is something else! Loved Gru meeting his long lost brother Dru and the resulting adventure. Who can forget the fashion sense of the villain who wears shoulder pads?!

A doctor is arrested because he has a ‘humshakal’ who is committing crimes. Vijay’s action thriller had much to do in the film: right all the wrongs, comment on corruption in the medical business and more. It’s a great premise, and oddly enough better music by A R Rahman. I loved Nithya’s character in the film and in the action scenes, would want to chant ‘Maaran! Maaran!’ with the crowds…

I would be amiss if I miss out on three crowd pleasers: Judwa, Ram Aur Shyam and Seeta Aur Geeta (and their remakes, of course.)

Those who can spout old film dialog, they would be familiar with Manorama-Hema Malini interaction: ‘Neeche aa ja beti’ and its response, ‘Oopar aaja moti!’

Seeta Aur Geeta had a wonderful fairy tale premise with a prince and pauper situation. One daughter who is shy and self effacing living in luxury and yet under the thumb of the cruel aunt. The other twin was stolen by a maid of the house who wanted a child. This twin has grown up on the mean streets and is more than capable of taking care of herself. When they get exchanged, the street smart twin fixes the situation for the shy twin and all's well that ends well… 

Sridevi set the screen afire with her comic timing and her dance and acting. It was Seeta Aur Geeta but wilder and funnier. With Sridevi you have Rajinikanth and Sunny Deol, whereas with Hema Malini, you had Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar

When Salman Khan was younger, his comic timing was seriously awesome. If you can put up with the gigantic collars on suits and the mad song routines, Judwaa was one of David Dhawan’s memorable movies.

If two of Salman Khan created a hit, then what better way for David Dhawan to get his own son - who had acted in funny movies like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania - in a remake of his hit Judwa? Judwaa 2 did not rake in the crores as was expected but it showed us that Varun Dhawan had a funny bone. If the script had been sharper, Judwaa 2 would have worked well with the movie audiences.

I don’t care what Lindsay Lohan does in real life, when she was but a child, her film The Parent Trap is such a comfort watch. Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson are parents to twin girls who meet at a summer camp. Both are as different as chalk is from cheese, but they manipulate and plan to get their parents to get back together. After all these years, I still love it!

Manisha Lakhe writes on films and TV shows, is a poet, teacher, traveller and mom (and not necessarily in that order). Could sell her soul for Pinot and a good cheesecake.

(Disclaimer: Views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of OTTplay. The writer is solely responsible for any claims arising out of the contents of this article.)