Santoshi needs to be coaxed to make 'Andaz Apna Apna 2': Viju Khote

It's been a while since reports of "Andaz Apna Apna 2" started doing the rounds. Veteran actor Viju Khote, who played Robert in "Andaz Apna Apna", feels somebody needs to coax its director Rajkumar Santoshi to make the 1994 comedy film's sequel, which could probably star actor Varun Dhawan.

"Someone would have to push him (Santoshi) to do 'Andaz Apna Apna 2'. Somebody needs to really coax him. I've not gone to his place for sometime. Maybe he is thinking of something else, but not this picture," Viju told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

"He also has to get good actors for that. Salman Khan and Aamir Khan were good, they were young and nice," he added.

Varun, who stepped into the shoes of Salman with the forthcoming film "Judwaa 2", could be a good option for "Andaz Apna Apna 2", Viju felt.

"About a year and a half ago, Rajkumar and I had a casual discussion about its sequel. We thought of Varun. Ranveer Singh was good when he entered Bollywood, but he looks much older than Varun now. He won't be able to match him," said Viju, 75.

"It was just a suggestion. He (Rajkumar) was not into it... The type of comedy has changed. What we did in that film was different. Comedies are now different. We wonder if it will even work now," he added.

"Andaz Apna Apna", which saw two men competing for an heiress' love and attention, didn't do good business when it hit the screens in 1994. The actor blames poor publicity for it.

"Publicity was not done enough. I didn't see big banners in Mumbai that time. There were just small posters. So, the public probably didn't know that the movie was coming out. Back then, we didn't promote films on TV or by talking to media so much like it's done now, but when it came on TV it became a big craze. It is Rajkumar Santoshi's best comedy," he said.

Earlier this month, movie buffs got a chance to catch "Andaz Apna Apna" at a theatre in Mumbai as part of Zee Classic's property 'Retro In A Metro'. The line-up of films also includes "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron", "Amar Akbar Anthony" and "Karz".

But "Andaz Apna Apna", which later gained a cult status, had almost got shelved.

"After the second schedule, the whole thing started getting uneasy. The actors were not turning up, dates were different. So, Rajkumar said 'Pack up. We are not shooting like this.' Then a big meeting was held at Aamir's house," Viju recalled.

"I was looking after them like a spot boy... getting tea and all. I was asked why I was running around like that. I said 'It's such a good film. I don't want it to go waste. So, complete it.' We had shot a couple of sequences with Tinnu Anand, but he was not there for the next schedule."

That role, Crime Master Gogo, finally landed in actor Shakti Kapoor's kitty.

Asked about the evolution of comedy, Viju said: "You have to go with times. You can't help it. People might not like situational comedy now. Deven Varma never did comedy. He acted on the basis of the situations."

"People might laugh at it (sex comedies), but I might not be able to do that," added Viju.