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Why do so many Indian actors take on father-son double roles?
Summary
Among dual-role films, the father-son double role occupies a special place. Why is this such a frequently deployed gambit?
For the most part, N.T. Rama Rao Jr’s latest action-thriller Devara was a tepid, tonally incoherent affair, the kind of film that shouts frequently without actually saying much. More the pity for the “man of masses" (Jr NTR’s chosen moniker) who pulls a diligent double shift here as the titular seafarer-vigilante and his bumbling, resentful son Varadha (“Vara"). The fact that Jr NTR chose a father-son double role for his first outing since RRR, the biggest hit of his career, isn’t a coincidence. Playing multiple roles in the same film has long been considered proof of a star’s mettle in Indian cinema, and in the Telugu and Tamil-language film industries, especially.
Within the world of dual or multiple-role films, the father-son double role occupies a special place. Devara follows hot on the heels of Vijay’s G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time) where the Tamil star plays an estranged father-and-son duo. Vijay previously played a double role as father-and-son in Atlee’s Bigil (2019) and a triple role (father plus identical twins) in Mersal (2017) by the same director. For good measure Jawan (2023), Atlee’s Hindi-language debut, saw Shahrukh Khan playing an ex-soldier and his vigilante son.
Also read: ‘Jigra’ review: The great escape
Chiranjeevi, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth—Tamil and Telugu superstars across eras have multiple father-and-son double roles on their CVs. While this has historically been far less common in Bollywood, actors like Amitabh Bachchan (Mahaan) and Jeetendra (Justice Chowdhary) have portrayed father-son dual roles in remakes of Tamil/Telugu films.
Why is this such a frequently-deployed gambit for successive generations of male stars? The short answer—a set of interconnected factors operating within patriarchal societies. The top female actors in Indian film industries do get to play double roles once in a while but it’s seldom a mother-daughter role. In fact, it’s much more likely to be in the context of horror or psychological dysfunction. Priyamani played conjoined twins Charu and Latha in the horror film Chaarulatha (2012), a remake of Thai horror film Alone (2007). The film was remade in Hindi with Bipasha Basu playing the twins. Trisha played a chef and vengeful spirit in the 2018 film Mohini. Shobana’s role as a woman suffering from split personality disorder in Manichitrathazhu (1993) was reprised by Vidya Balan in Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007).
If we look at Jr NTR’s films down the years, there have been frequent allusions to the filmography of his famous grandfather. NTR (Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao; 1923-96) was the reigning superstar of Telugu cinema from the 1950s-1980s. In 1982, he formed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and served as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in three stints over 14 years. In the lead-up to NTR launching his political career, he portrayed father-son double roles in three films: Sardar Paparayudu (1980), Kondaveeti Simham (1981) and Justice Chowdhary (1982). All three depicted the older NTR as an authority figure imbued with the power of the state, one way or another—a freedom fighter, a cop and a judge. The narrative sees these “old-school" men-of-honour in conflict with the next generation, depicted as flawed, wrapped up in frivolities and prima facie unworthy.
S.V. Srinivas summarised this phenomenon in his book Politics as Performance (2013). “The older NTR represents values (honour, patriotism, etc.) identifiably those of a past era; and he is burdened by enormous official, political, and familial responsibilities. The youth, meanwhile, is initially busy fighting petty criminals and taming the heroine." As the films unfold, the older NTRs “reformed" their wayward sons, re-oriented them towards the nobler avenues of familial life, caste-and-clan-pride and nation-building. Maximalist superfans see their beloved star growing to embody the dreams and aspirations of generations past and present. Conscientious voters see a canny, “big-tent" leader capable of bridging the generational gap, combining the virtues of youth and experience.
The closer the star-politician gets to the onset of his political career, the more these two objectives of the father-son double role bleed into each other. Meta-references to the star’s previous roles become not just first-degree fan service, but also a kind of political showreel-by-proxy, underlining both his body of work and his hard-fought connection with the voting masses.
Do Jr NTR’s callbacks to his grandfather’s movies mean that he intends to contest elections? Not necessarily. The currency to be gained is popularity: he wants to embody the “man of masses" moniker. Whether this is eventually leveraged in the electoral arena remains to be seen—but if he wants to do that, his grandfather’s filmography offers a clear roadmap.
An actor who is on this course is Vijay. Even a cursory look at his films over 6-7 years reveals similar processes at play. Ahead of G.O.A.T.’s release, Vijay said he would do one more film before devoting himself full-time to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, the political party he founded in February. In 2018, Vijay led A.R. Murugadoss’s Sarkar, playing an NRI who ditches his profitable career to “fix" widespread political corruption in Tamil Nadu, ultimately contesting the elections. Master (2021), too, saw Vijay in reformist mode, championing student politics before playing a grouchier Mr. Chips to a gang of juvenile delinquents. His father-and-son double roles—Bigil, Mersal and G.O.A.T.—work as political adverts in a more direct manner. Between these films, the father-and-son Vijays manage to reform, rehabilitate or completely overhaul women’s football, medical infrastructure and counter-terrorism in Tamil Nadu.
The flow of power across generations is portrayed from multiple angles in these films: in Bigil and Mersal, the son is either avenging the father or upholding his cherished values. In G.O.A.T., however, the elder Vijay ends up killing his treasonous son, depicting a leader who will go to any lengths to preserve national interests.
A similar arc plays out in the third act of Shankar’s Indian (1996), starring Kamal Haasan as the righteous freedom-fighter-turned-vigilante Senapathy and his son Chandru, a devil-may-care hustler whose primary talent is bribing government officials. After Chandru’s corruption leads to a tragedy claiming dozens of lives, Senapathy reluctantly kills his son. Shankar’s most successful film till date, Enthiran (2010), is essentially a variation on this theme—following an irredeemable “clash of values", Rajinikanth’s roboticist protagonist dismantles his android “son" Chitti (also Rajinikanth) at the end.
Generally speaking, Kamal Haasan’s double/multiple roles have brought a measure of freshness to this template, and not just because the man has range. Haasan is famously particular about prosthetics, make-up, et al, factors that make it easier to distinguish his various avatars in a film like Dasavathaaram (2008) where he played 10 characters, including US President George W. Bush. Dasavathaaram and Enthiran are landmarks in this context because they represent innovation in prosthetics and VFX, respectively. For the next generation of films, AI may well prove to be an influential tool.
In retrospect, Enthiran also feels like an early mover in what I strongly believe will be a major trend across the next decade of mainstream blockbusters—VFX trickery in service of dual or multiple roles. Digital de-ageing is commonplace today. Vijay’s G.O.A.T. includes a clumsy attempt at doing something similar with the late Vijayakanth, in the film’s opening action sequence. What sights and sounds might this tech bring forth in the future, especially in the context of father-son double roles? Smart money says they will be used in the service of “stunt casting".
Consider R. Balki’s Paa (2009), where Amitabh Bachchan played a child with the rare disease progeria, causing people to age faster than usual. Amitabh’s 12-year-old Auro, therefore, resembled a 60-year-old while his onscreen father Amol is played by his real-life son Abhishek Bachchan. Today, I am certain this screenplay would have been greenlit for a digitally de-aged/AI-enhanced Amitabh playing both father and son.
Or think of that gag from the Marvel film Eternals (2021), where the immortal, ageless Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) reveals his “cover" among mortals in India: he has been Bollywood’s dominant superstar across many successive generations, pretending to be his own son, grandson and so on. Given the weight of history and the undeniable solipsism of some of our biggest male stars, I wouldn’t rule out one of them bringing Kingo’s vision to life.
Aditya Mani Jha is a Delhi-based writer.
