The concept of the body double is quite spread throughout the movie industry, with people looking like the stars doubling them in stunts or in erotic scenes. In India and Bollywood, though, where a number of stars are bigger than life, it has risen to a whole other level, with film star lookalikes being as much part of Indian popular culture as the revered actors who front the movie industry, even starring as so-called “duplicates” in broadly comedic versions of original films by the megastars they resemble. Documentary director and producer Geetika Narang Abbasi profiles three career duplicates – Kishore Bhanushali, who doubles as Dev Anand; Firoz Khan the Amitabh Bachchan lookalike and Prashant Walde, who makes a living mimicking Shah Rukh Khan.
A.K.A. at Red Sea International Film Festival
The three portraits she presents are quite thorough, as she managed to earn their trust to the point of...
A.K.A. at Red Sea International Film Festival
The three portraits she presents are quite thorough, as she managed to earn their trust to the point of...
- 12/15/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Urf (“Aka”) Director Geetika Narang Abbasi, 2022
I spent a number of years living in France, and one of the most interesting words I learned was “sosie” – someone who perfectly resembles someone else, to the point that people could confuse them. I was familiar with impersonators, mostly comedians who did voice imitations of famous people, whether actors or singers. I knew about Elvis impersonators, people who would perform dressed as Elvis. But that’s as far as it went, until I discovered the world of “sosies” in France. Where impersonators or doubles were fairly marginalized here at home, in France I discovered a whole side business of people who resembled famous performers – usually singers – and would hire themselves out to perform at local events. Writer Yann Moix published a book called “Podium” about a bank employee who must choose between his family and the career he longs for: to be a “sosie” of the late,...
I spent a number of years living in France, and one of the most interesting words I learned was “sosie” – someone who perfectly resembles someone else, to the point that people could confuse them. I was familiar with impersonators, mostly comedians who did voice imitations of famous people, whether actors or singers. I knew about Elvis impersonators, people who would perform dressed as Elvis. But that’s as far as it went, until I discovered the world of “sosies” in France. Where impersonators or doubles were fairly marginalized here at home, in France I discovered a whole side business of people who resembled famous performers – usually singers – and would hire themselves out to perform at local events. Writer Yann Moix published a book called “Podium” about a bank employee who must choose between his family and the career he longs for: to be a “sosie” of the late,...
- 6/30/2022
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
The weird, wonderful and sometimes sad world of actors who make a living as lookalikes of Bollywood superstars is the subject of Geetika Narang Abbasi’s documentary “Urf,” world premiering in the Cinema Regained strand of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
The actors are known by the names of the stars they portray, with the prefix Jr. – short for Junior. “Urf,” which translates as also known as or alias, follows several lookalikes, but mainly focuses on Kishore Bhanushali a.k.a. Jr. Dev Anand, Firoz Khan a.k.a. Jr. Amitabh Bachchan, and Prashant Walde, a.k.a. Jr. Shah Rukh Khan.
“I was very intrigued by the whole phenomenon of imitation, of assuming a star’s personality and being a ‘reflected’ star. Soon I realized how it is also unique to our films – there have been mainstream films with lookalikes in the lead and then, of course, they feature...
The actors are known by the names of the stars they portray, with the prefix Jr. – short for Junior. “Urf,” which translates as also known as or alias, follows several lookalikes, but mainly focuses on Kishore Bhanushali a.k.a. Jr. Dev Anand, Firoz Khan a.k.a. Jr. Amitabh Bachchan, and Prashant Walde, a.k.a. Jr. Shah Rukh Khan.
“I was very intrigued by the whole phenomenon of imitation, of assuming a star’s personality and being a ‘reflected’ star. Soon I realized how it is also unique to our films – there have been mainstream films with lookalikes in the lead and then, of course, they feature...
- 1/25/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
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