Andaz Apna Apna 2: the 2013 sequel announcement that never got filmed

Editor's note, 2026: this post first ran in May 2013, when a sequel to Andaz Apna Apna was announced. The follow-up below is part of the story now.

The announcement

In May 2013, word went around that Andaz Apna Apna — the 1994 Aamir Khan–Salman Khan comedy that flopped at the box office and then became a cult classic on television — would finally get a sequel. Director Rajkumar Santoshi was reported to be returning for it, nineteen years after the original.

Fans had waited nearly two decades, so the hope was understandable. As the original post put it, if the humor was as good as the first one, the star cast might not even matter — though a ghajini-style look for Aamir and a dabangg-style look for Salman surely would have rocked.

What actually happened

Nothing. Within months, Santoshi himself shot the reports down. "I am not making Andaz Apna Apna sequel," he told Bollywood Hungama in September 2013. "Contrary to reports, I am not working on a subject for a sequel. I don't even have an idea for a sequel! Why would I attempt something that is for now a closed chapter for me?" (Bollywood Hungama)

The sequel never got made — not by Santoshi, and not since. Rights questions around producer Vinay Sinha's estate have kept every revival attempt in limbo ever since.

Why the original endures

The first film is memorable because of the lovely, nonsensical dialogues — it was hard not to laugh:

"Na surat, na shakal, na akal. Jise dekho chala aa raha hai"

"Unke ek ek sawal, hamaare do do jawaab... Sawal ek, jawaab do. Sawal jawaab, sawal jawaab... chupp..."

Andaz Apna Apna never did well at the box office; it caught on only when people watched it on television — and then it never lost its popularity. Maybe that's the real lesson here: some films don't need sequels. They just need to be rewatched.