Sridevi in a glittery salmon pink jacket, wielding a whip against Anupam Kher and urging him to scream louder was a defining moment in ChaalBaaz. The 1989 Bollywood film, with its classic twins-separated-at-birth trope, could have easily been a disaster. After all, it borrowed liberally from Ramesh Sippy’s Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), starring Hema Malini.
But Sridevi’s brilliant performance turned ChaalBaaz into an iconic film that continues to entertain today. She carries the entire movie on her shoulders, effortlessly switching between the timid Anju and the brash Manju. The heroes, Sunny Deol and Rajinikanth, pale in comparison. And the villains, Kher’s Tribhuvan and Shakti Kapoor’s Balma, only serve to make her characters more appealing.
They evoke disgust when they bully a docile Anju. But that feeling of comeuppance when they face-off with Manju is so satisfying. ChaalBaaz was Bollywood’s 80s take on feminism. It may have been over-the-top, but it remains a fan favourite. Kareena Kapoor Khan has watched it 35 times.“ I have not been offered a double role ever, which is quite strange. I am dying to do one,” she once said.
How ChaalBaaz was born
After Guru (1989), ChaalBaaz was Sridevi’s second film where she played a double role, and it made her a household name. Director Pankaj Parashar was ecstatic when she agreed to sign on.
“I had seen her only once before, when she performed a dance at the muhurat of Mr India. She looked like a goddess. I crossed my fingers and hoped I would get to work with her [one day],” Parashar said in an interview.
It was Telugu producer Poornachandra Rao who set up a meeting between Parashar and Sridevi to discuss the script. “She had on a feather boa and blue contact lenses. She said, ‘Tell me your story’,” recalled Parashar. The problem was that he had nothing prepared. So, he simply narrated the entire plot of Seeta aur Geeta from start to finish. Sridevi turned to Rao and said in Telugu that she was in.
When Parashar officially signed her, his father was so excited that he handed out sweets to everyone in their building. It was only later that the director admitted he had narrated the script of Seeta aur Geeta. But Sridevi reassured him—ChaalBaaz would be different. And it was.
Sridevi’s versatility
Separated at birth, sisters Manju and Anju grow up as polar opposites. Manju is a street-smart hustler; Anju is a meek and terrified of her uncle, Tribhuvan, and his partner Amba (Rohini Hattangadi). She endures their abuse without resistance—until fate swaps their places.
Manju gets the chance to teach Tribhuvan, Amba, and Amba’s lecherous brother Balma a lesson. She also finds love with Suraj (Deol). Meanwhile, Anju steps out of her cocooned existence and slowly falls for Jaggu (Rajinikanth), a taxi driver and Manju’s best friend. The two men, of course, have no idea that the the sisters have switched places.
Sridevi as Manju doesn’t just scam her way out of debts—she gets people to pay her extra with her sob stories of ‘mother suffering from cancer.’ She gives her audience more than worth their money with her comic timing. She was truly impressive as Manju with the right mix of endearing and fierce.
Take the scene where she meets Suraj in a bar and tries to get him to pay for her beers. In between, she doesn’t give her name and also sets the record straight: just because he’s paying doesn’t mean he gets to drop her home. “Sita, Salma, or Suzie. Why does the name matter? I am just a woman who wants to live in this world created by men on her own terms.” And she does—by hook or crook—unapologetically.
Sridevi’s ease with essaying double roles was unmatched. She would go on to play dual characters in Lamhe (1991) and Khuda Gawah (1992).
ChaalBaaz’s gender politics
As phenomenal as Sridevi was, ChaalBaaz still pandered to traditional gender ideals to depict an ‘ideal’ woman. Anju, the docile and ‘sanskari’ sister, is framed as more desirable. Manju’s fiery nature is portrayed as the outcome of her rough circumstances.
Yet, the film does something rare for its time—Suraj falls for Manju as she is, without expecting her to change. Jaggu, on the other hand, is drawn to Anju because she doesn’t drink and is more at home with doing household chores—the version of Manju he would like as a wife. Although reinforcing stereotypes, it was still a step forward from the heroine-vamp narrative common in 80s Bollywood.
One of the film’s highlights is the song Naa Jaane Kahan Se, choreographed by Saroj Khan. Sridevi, reportedly down with fever, shot the entire sequence, dancing in the rain in a white raincoat, slightly drunk. The song became an iconic pop culture moment.
Deol, nervous about dancing with Sridevi, disappeared for two hours before his take. Ultimately, the song won Saroj Khan a Filmfare Award for Best Choreography, while Sridevi went home with the Best Actress award.
Deol agreed to do the film only because his father Dharmendra had starred in Seeta Aur Geeta. In fact, he insisted on being credited for a guest appearance instead of a full-fledged role.
It was a Sridevi show through and through. Made on a budget of Rs 2.5 crore, it earned Rs 15 crore and became a superhit. No surprises there—after all, the audience got twice the Sridevi magic in a single film.
(Edited by Prashant)