In what ways does Andaz Apna Apna pay homage to or parody classic Bollywood tropes and clichés?

 The film Andaz Apna Apna is as meta as it can be parodying and paying homage to so many films, actors and characters, making inside jokes throughout its runtime.

First of all, the characters of the film are filmy in itself. The two male characters are named Amar and Prem, which in unison makes Amar Prem, a classic Bollywood film. The heroines are called Karishma and Raveena, which are real names of the actresses except that Karishma is named Raveena and Raveena is named Karishma!! The villain is Crime Master Gogo who calls himself Mogambo ka Bhatija (nephew of Mogambo the role played by Amrish Puri in Mr. India). Shehzad Khan who plays one of the henchmen of Paresh Rawal, mimicks his father Ajit’s Lion character. Even Paresh Rawal’s characters are named Ram Gopal Bajaj and Shyam Gopal Bajaj which refers to Ram aur Shyam duo of distinctive characters and at the same time they also give a nod to the famous jingle of Bajaj company in a scene with Paresh Rawal singing Hamara Bajaj.

In the beginning when Aamir meets Juhi Chawla and Govinda, Govinda tells Aamir that you are such a handsome young man why don't you try acting in films!! Another inside joke is when Juhi Chawla is frightened by a sudden voice and claims “Mujhe laga Shahrukh Khan aa gaya” (I thought Srk has come, referring to Darr).

In the police station scene, Salman mentions that he has seen Sholay multiple times to which Aamir responds “Haan iske baap ne likhi hai” (His father has written the film) which is intersting because Sholay is written by Salim Khan, father of Salman Khan. In the same scene when Aamir is arrested by the inspector the song plays in the background “Papa Kahte hai bada naam karega” referring to Aamir’s iconic role in Qayamat se Qayamat Tak.

The film use elements from the popular cinema tropes from the old films. Even the music of this movie is modelled on the music of 60s and 70s. The climax of the film is influenced by Victoria no 203, the film makes fun of the popular story of Sheikh Chilli with Bajaj making similar plans like Sheikh Chilli, and we have dialogues like “Maalik jitna tha sab laaya hun” which is a common dialogue in old Indian films

What are some interesting facts about the movie Andaz Apna Apna?

 Andaz Apna Apna was a flop at Box-office but slowly gained popularity because of Cable TV revolution of 90s.

During all these times, it has achieved a cult-classic status. As per IMDb, AAA is one of the most popular movie of 90s.

However, Andaz Apna Apna was a nightmare for Rajkumar Santoshi.

As per the original plan and dates given by Salman, Raveena & Karishma; the movie was supposed to be completed in 6–8 months.

But there was a huge slippage in the scheduled plans because Salman, Raveena & Karishma were too busy actors at that time.

It took 3 years to complete the whole movie.

[1]

This is the reason you see the hairstyle of actors keep changing throughout the film.

Salman’s long hair from Saajan

Salman’s short hair from Hum Aap ke Hain Kaun

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Another interesting fact, because of the delay in the schedule, several scenes were improvised by the actors on set.

Most of the dialogues were impromptu and some scenes were improvised on the spot.

Aamir Khan’s character Amar lives in Mumbai and Salman’s character Prem is from Bhopal.

So, it was Aamir’s idea to put some Catch Word for his character like “Aai la” which is common in Mumbai.

[2]

Another impromptu by Aamir was the ransom amount Aamir pays to Teja was 8535 rupees, 29 paise.

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