ChaalBaaz

About the film

ChaalBaaz (Hindi pronunciation: [tʃaːlbaːz], transl. Trickster) is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language slapstick film directed by Pankaj Parashar and written by Rajesh Mazumdar and Kamlesh Pandey. It stars Sunny Deol, Sridevi and Rajinikanth. The film revolves around identical twin sisters Manju and Anju, who get separated at birth. Anju lives with her malicious uncle, who plans to seize her property and traumatizes her by beating her. On the other hand, Manju grows up amidst a slum environment and is a tomboy.

The film was an adaptation of the film Seeta Aur Geeta and had its story written by Rajesh Mazumdar. It was produced by A. Poorna Chandra Rao under the Lakshmi Productions banner. The duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal composed the soundtrack with lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. Manmohan Singh handled the cinematography while Afaque Hussain served as the editor.

Plot

Identical twin sisters Anju and Manju are separated immediately after birth, thanks to their mentally handicapped nanny. Anju ends up with her uncle Tribhuvan and aunt Amba, while Manju is raised in a slum environment. Their parents were killed in a car accident orchestrated by Tribhuvan. However, in their will, they declare that their daughters will inherit their wealth once the twins turn 21. This results in Tribhuvan and Amba bringing Anju up as a coy, conservative, and easily frightened girl, merely keeping her alive so she can sign off the property in their name. The house servant Daddu, Anju's younger brother Raja, and their pet dog sympathize with her plight.

Anju likes classical dance and is unable to resist the urge to dance whenever she hears Indian classical music. On his birthday, Tribhuvan hosts a grand party. Among the several guests attending is his friend Vishwanath, who is very kind towards Anju. When Indian classical music plays at the party, Anju is unable to resist and bursts out dancing, but ends up accidentally slapping Tribhuvan. Although calm at the party, he beats Anju mercilessly with a whip the next day.

Manju is a modern, happy-go-lucky, and street-smart stage dancer. She spends her days tricking people in the village to forego her loans and is friends with her neighbour and taxi driver Jaggu. One night, she crashes into a bar to drink beer, where she meets and flirts with Suraj, Viswanath's son. Suraj soon falls for her. Vishwanath has been pestering Suraj to get married for a while now, and one day, when he shows him Anju's photo as a prospective marriage offer, he agrees, despite not knowing her name. When they visit Tribhuvan's place with their offer, Anju doesn't recognize Suraj and has a panic attack (courtesy of the injections given to her by Amba), which scares Suraj and Vishwanath away.

Production

During the processing of Jalwa (1987) at Prasad studios in Chennai, eminent producer and director L. V. Prasad happened to see the film and liked it. He told producer A. Poorna Chandra Rao to get Pankuj Parashar to make a stylish film for him. When Rao approached Pankuj, he expressed his desire to make a film with Sridevi, who was popular at that time, owing to the success of Mr. India (1987). To this, Rao readily agreed. Rao enquired of Pankuj if he had a subject in mind, to which Pankuj promptly said that they would remake Seeta Aur Geeta (1972). He was given an immediate signing amount of ₹11,000 by Rao. When Pankuj met Sridevi and she asked for the script, he narrated to her the plot of Seeta Aur Geeta which she liked and communicated her willingness to be a part of the film to Rao in Telugu. According to Pankuj, while writing the screenplay, along with Kamlesh Pandey, he used to call Kamal Haasan everyday for tips, since they were friends. Haasan acted as a guide on ChaalBaaz, and advised Pankuj not to deviate from the plot of Seeta Aur Geeta. He also assured Pankuj that Sridevi would perform differently from Hema Malini.

Sunny Deol was cast to play the role of Suraj, one of the two male leads. Sunny Deol had accepted this role as his father, Dharmendra, had done the similar role in Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) and he wanted people to remember them for that. Anil Kapoor was initially approached for the role of the second male lead - Jaggu. But he turned down the offer, fearing that Sridevi's performance in a dual role would overshadow his part. Later, Rajinikanth was selected for the role of Jaggu. Rohini Hattangadi, who had previously played a character inspired by Sridevi in Jalwa, was cast as Anju's cruel aunt. Anupam Kher was cast as Tribhuvan, one of his memorable works as an antagonist. Annu Kapoor was cast in the role of the servant Daddu, a character double of his age at that time while Aftab Shivdasani appeared as a child artist. ChaalBaaz marked Sridevi's first dual role film in Hindi cinema, the others being Lamhe and Khuda Gawah. Speaking about her role, she said that she loved enacting Manju's character as a prankster, while also revealing that she had the greatest time shooting for ChaalBaaz and further she loved the song "Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai".

Principal photography took place primarily in Mumbai, being handled by Manmohan Singh. Sridevi herself was very closely related with the production. Acting upon her suggestion, Pankuj decided to change the costumes every four lines, and accordingly, separate sets were prepared for the song "Mera Bemar Tera Dil".

Key details