12 Lead Actors Who Starred In Two Different Movies Of The Same Title
Posted On: 29 Jul 2021 | Last Updated : 12 Jul 2022 | Views : 2k
Strange are the ways of Bollywood and stranger are the ways in which our actors and filmmakers function. Talk about movie titles and one is often made to wonder whether there is any dearth of titles? If you have noticed many filmmakers who are desperately looking for a hit to reuse their earlier successful movie titles hoping that it’ll yet again spell success at the box office. The same goes with the actors too when they end up acting in two different movies of the same title hoping to repeat their success. There have been many known and unknown supporting actors who have acted in two different movies of the same titles in the past like Amrish Puri appeared in movies title 'Salaakhen' (1976 / 1998) and 'Hulchul' (1995 / 2004), respectively while Aditya Pancholi appeared in two movies with the same title which was 'Jung' (1996 / 2000), Kader Khan appeared in 'Naseeb' (1981 / 1998) and 'Yaraana' (1981 / 1995), Pran appeared in 'Toofan' (1951 / 1989), Danny in 'Sangram' (1976 / 1993) and Mohnish Bahl in 'Itihaas' (1987 / 1997), etc. Let’s look at the list of lead actors who played important roles in two or more different movies of the same title.
(Note: We haven’t taken into account movie titles that were remakes or sequels. The spelling of movie titles listed below may be different from each other.)
1. Dharmendra - Begaana, Baazi, Loha & Patthar Aur Payal
Dharmendra probably will go down in Bollywood history as the only star to have appeared in two different movies of the same title on four occasions namely - Loha, Baazi, Patthar Aur Payal and Begaana. His record is more credible compared to others on the list because he played the lead in all these films despite their performances at the ticket windows. He acted in two movies with the title of Begaana, the 1963 family drama was directed by Sadashiv Row Kavi while the 1986 Begaanaa was a revenge drama directed by Ambrish Sangal. His 1968 released film Baazi co-starred Waheeda Rehman and was directed by Moni Bhattacharjee while his 1984 released Baazi co-starred Rekha and Mithun Chakraborty was directed by Raj N. Sippy which reportedly was a decent earner at the box-office. His 1987 released multi-starrer Loha directed by Raj N. Sippy was a superhit but the 1997 Loha directed by Kanti Shah was a washout. His Patthar Aur Payal, a dacoit-drama directed by Harmesh Malhotra fared well at the box-office but his 2000 dacoit-drama with a similar title sank without a trace.
2. Ashok Kumar - Kangan, Afsana, Grahasti & Intaquam
Ashok Kumar had the distinction of appearing in three films of the same title on two occasions while once he appeared in three films of the same title. The legendary actor had many records to his name but this feat was unique indeed when he played the lead along with Leela Chitnis in Franz Osten’s 1939 social-drama Kangan and 20 years later played the lead in director Nanabhai Bhatt’s 1959 mystery drama Kangan co-starring Nirupa Roy and Purnima. The third time he acted in a movie titled Kangan was in 1971 which was directed by K.B. Tilak and starred Sanjeev Kumar and Mala Sinha. The second film where he acted in two similar titles was Afsana which was released in 1951 and 1966 where he played the leads in both. The 1951 released Afsana marked the directorial debut of B.R. Chopra while the 1966 Afsana directed by Brij Sadanah co-starred Pradeep Kumar, Padmini, Jagdeep, and Helen. The third film title was Grahasti that released in 1963 and 1984, respectively. And finally, Intaquam (1969) and Intaqaam (1988) were directed by R.K. Nayyar and Rajkumar Kohli, respectively.
3. Mithun Chakraborty – Maa Kasam, Saazish & Guru
Mithun Chakraborty who almost toppled Amitabh Bachchan from the numero uno spot post-1984 was arguably one of the busiest stars then. He is one of those rare lead actors of Bollywood who has done more than 350 films of which on three instances he acted in two separate films having identical titles. His 1985 film Maa Kasam directed by Shibu Mitra was an action-drama with Divya Rana, Ranjeet and Amjad Khan in the main cast while the 1999 Maa Kasam directed by Ashok Gaikwad was one of his forgettable flicks. His Saazish released in 1988 directed by Rajkumar Kohli had a huge star cast including Raaj Kumar, Dimple Kapadia, Anita Raaj, and Raj Babbar while his other Saazish released in 1998 directed by Sudhir Nair met with the same fate as the former at the box-office. The third time he repeated the feat was when he acted in Umesh Mehra’s action-drama Guru released in 1989 which had Sridevi and was an average fare while Mani Ratnam’s Guru (2007) with Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai turned memorable for him and his fans.
4. Jeetendra – Aulad & Suntan
Not far behind is our very own Jumping Jack, Jeetendra who had accomplished this feat on two occasions. Jeetendra appeared in Kundan Kumar’s Aulad in 1968 co-starring Babita and Mehmood while he yet again acted in another movie titled Aulad in 1987 that was directed by Vijay Sadanah and co-starred Sridevi and Jaya Prada. The second time he accomplished this feat was by appearing in director Mohan Segal’s Suntan in 1976 along with Ashok Kumar, Nirupa Roy, and Rekha in the cast while his 1993 family-drama Santaan, which was spelled differently to the other title, was directed by Dasari Narayan Rao and starred Moushumi Chatterjee, Deepak Tijori, and Neelam. What is commendable about his feat is that he played the lead in all four of them.
5. Amitabh Bachchan – Deewaar
Well, yes most of us know that legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan who has always been on the list of top 10 Bollywood lead actors of all time throughout his career had acted in two different films with the same title which was Deewaar. The 1975 Yash Chopra blockbuster had Amitabh Bachchan playing the anti-hero that co-starred Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Parveen Babi, and Neetu Singh while he yet again chose to act in another similarly titled film Deewaar: Let's Bring Our Heroes Home in 2004 which was directed by Milan Luthria and co-starred Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Amrita Rao, Tanuja, and Kay Kay Menon. To differentiate between the two, the makers of the latter added a caption to it but couldn’t save it from doing more than average business at the box-office.
6. Sanjay Dutt – Hathyar
One may not remember this but Sanjay Dutt had acted in two different films having the same title which was Hathyar. The 1989 action-thriller Hathyar directed by J.P. Dutta also had Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Amrita Singh, Asha Parekh and Sangeeta Bijlani in the main cast. Thirteen years later in 2002 director Mahesh Manjrekar’s Hathyar too had Sanjay Dutt playing a gangster while Shilpa Shetty played his love interest. To differentiate it from the earlier Hathyar, the makers added a tagline to it that read ‘Face to Face with Reality' which reportedly was the sequel to his earlier successful film Vaastav (1999). Unfortunately, both the ‘weapons’ failed to fire at the box-office.
7. Bobby Deol – Barsaat
Like father like son, Bobby Deol too has the distinction of acting in two different films of the same title which was Barsaat (1995), his debut movie along with Twinkle Khanna directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and the other film being Barsaat: A Sublime Love Story, a love triangle which was directed by Suneel Darshan and co-starred Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha Basu. His debut film Barsaat did good business while his 2005 Barsaat bombed at the box-office despite having an alluring caption attached to it. The dismal performance of the film was followed by a series of bad films by the actor who later took more than a decade to deliver a hit.
8. Rishi Kapoor – Jhootha Kahin Ka
Rishi Kapoor who had acted in over 160 films in his career also figures in the list of top Bollywood lead actors who starred in same movie titles. For many of you sure may not know that he had two movies of the same title in his filmography which was Jhoota Kahin Ka. Though there was a little spelling difference in both titles, the 1979 Jhoota Kahin Ka directed by Ravi Tandon had Rishi in the lead which co-starred Neetu Singh and Rakesh Roshan and did good business upon release while his 2019 romantic comedy directed by Smeep Kang where he played a father, had Jimmy Sheirgill, Sunny Singh, Nimisha Mehta, and Omkar Kapoor in the lead performed rather badly at the box-office. It's probably the only time the great Rishi Kapoor acted in two different films having the same title.
9. Karan Dewan – School Master
For many who don’t know who Karan Dewan was, well…, he was one of Bollywood’s top lead actors of the 40s and 50s who acted in more than 60-odd films and romanced all the lead actresses of his time. Karan Dewan made his acting debut in 1943 in director Chimanlal Luhar’s School Master which also starred Gope and Jeevan. In 1959 he yet again played the lead in another movie with the same title – School Master which was directed by B.R. Panthulu and co-starred Shakila and Saroja Devi.
10. Ajit – Mehndi
Veteran actor Ajit who initially started his acting career by playing leads before turning to villainous characters had worked in two films having the same title which was Mehndi released in 1947 and 1958, respectively. Though both the titles had different spellings and storylines, the earlier film Mehandi was directed by Sibtain Fazli which also starred Karan Dewan while the later film Mehndi was directed by S.M. Yusuf and co-starred Jayashree, Veena & Lalita Pawar. How well, these two films fared at the box-office is not known.
11. Manhar Desai – Sati Naag Kanya
Manhar Desai was one of the most popular Bollywood lead actors of the 50s and 60s who was known for acting mostly in mythological, costume, and adventure dramas like Maya Machhindra (1960), Zabak (1962), Parasmani (1963), Mahabharat (1965), had also featured in two films having the same title which was Sati Naag Kanya that released in 1956 and 1983, respectively. 1956 released Sati Naag Kanya starred Manhar Desai in the lead along with Mahipal and Nirupa Roy while 1983 released Sati Naag Kanya which was also a mythological drama featured Jayshree Gadkar, Vikram Gokhale, Anjana Mumtaz, and Anita Guha.
12. Dara Singh - Veer Bhimsen
Rustom-E-Hind Dara Singh who was known for his action-adventure dramas in the 60s had also done quite a few mythological dramas in most of which he portrayed the character of Bhimsen from Mahabharat. He was the obvious choice for many mythological filmmakers in those days because of his strong physique. Dara Singh too has the unique distinction of appearing in two films having the same title that was Veer Bhimsen which was released in 1964 and 1986, respectively. The 1964 Veer Bhimsen where he played the titular role was directed by Chandrakant and starred Mumtaz, Sumitra Devi, Mahipal, Shahu Modak, and Anita Guha. 22 years later in 1986, he acted in director Sushil Vyas’s Veer Bhimsen which co-starred Anjana Mumtaz, Arvind Kumar, Jayshree Gadkar, and Rajendranath.
