Bollywood actresses on double duty

Mumbai: While 2015 will have its share of male stars playing a double role be it Salman Khan in Bajrangi Bhaijaan or Shah Rukh Khan in Fan Bollywood’s ladies aren’t far behind. This year will see Jacqueline Fernandez essay a double role in Roy, Bipasha Basu plays conjoined twins in her horror flick Alone, you’ll see two of Kangana Ranaut in Tanu Weds Manu 2, and two of Ameesha Patel in Desi Magic. And for Sunny Leone and Anushka Sharma fans, they’ll have a chance to see both actresses in double roles in Mastizaade and Bombay Velvet respectively.

This is in quite a contrast to previous years, where there’s been a dearth of double roles for actresses (but not so for actors). Alone director Bhushan Patel says, “Till now, playing the protagonist has been more of a male domain and hence more often than not, it was the actor who played double roles.”

Bhushan continues, “A Seeta Aur Geeta was a rarity. Nowadays, we have many heroine-oriented films, which allow actresses to play double roles too.”

Bhushan points out that the challenge in playing a double role is immense. “It is anyway difficult to play one character, give it the proper nuances and characteristics, and imagine now playing two of them in the same film!” he says. “But the crop of actresses we have these days are all absolutely capable of doing so.”

Ameesha Patel is all set to make her comeback with a double  role in Desi Magic. She says, “There are days when I change my costume, make-up and hair seven-eight times a day when both Ameeshas actually come together and I have to be completely familiar with both the characters! On one hand I play the cute bubbly Mahi that is the Ameesha people expect. The heart of the film is Sonia who is diametrically opposite. She’s spoilt, her father has a lot of money. She shops, she flirts, she drinks she’s a complete wild child.”