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Isn't that Chiru?
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The `look-alike' artiste make a livelihood out of their marked assets
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Chandu, Bhaskar, Siva and Dilip — Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan
THE NEXT time your favourite hero Chiru or Nag waves at you from an open top jeep or cuts a birthday cake, make sure that you aren't being taken for a ride! Because chances are that it could be one of those doosras who are trying to pass off as your favourite actor.
Last year, fans of Nagarjuna across the coastal belt of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore were apparently thrilled, as their favourite hero obliged each of the local fans association by cutting a birthday cake. The local fans associations arranged the birthday parties and "Nag" willingly obliged fans by cutting the cakes. By the way, you must be wondering, how on the earth, Nagarjuna, despite his busy schedules, would travel the long dusty roads in the districts on a single day and cut those cakes? Well, ask P. Nagaraju alias Shiva and he lets the cat out of the bag.
The truth is, it wasn't Nagarjuna, but Shiva who did all those ribbon and cake cuttings to please the fans! And doing such gimmicks isn't anything new for Shiva; as he with "Venkatesh," "Chiranjeevi" and "Balakrishna" regularly conduct such public shows. They serve a variety of purposes. One, it thrills the fans to a state of ecstasy as they presume it is their idolin "flesh and blood" in their midst. For the dupes, it is a source of livelihood. As for the stars they have nothing to lose, as it only keep the fans in good humour.
Prodding by others
Endowed with all the good looks, R. Chandu came to the city a decade ago to make it big in the Telugu film world. But Chandu now ekes out his livelihood, as Venkatesh. Besides doing a couple of films as Venkatesh's dupe, Chandu starred with several others dupe artistes in NTR Nagar — a movie totally made with dupe artistes.
A postgraduate in Political Science from Kakinada, Chandu who has a close resemblance to Venkatesh, recalls that he initially dreamed of becoming a hero in the films. But due to his looks, he ended up as a dupe for Venkatesh. "Many film personalities like Dasari Narayana Rao, Srihari, Meena and the late Soundarya kept telling me that I looked like Venkatesh and that's how I gradually turned into his dupe," he says. Though happy with a borrowed identity, Chandu feels he would be happy to play a lead role in some film in the near future. Though Dasari some time ago promised him a lead role, it was yet to fructify, he adds.
Shiva was pursing his undergraduate course at Narsapur, when well wishers prodded him to join films, as he resembled Nagarjuna. "After the release of Vikram in 1986, a large number of people started saying that I resembled the actor which prompted me to enter the films," reminisces Nagaraju (Shiva), who had since then done nearly a dozen movies as a dupe. In Eduruleni Manishi, some of the long-shot duet shots were, in fact, made with Nagaraju, as the actor was busy with his other schedules.
Stage shows
But more than the films, it is the stage shows that fetch these artistes some income to make ends meet, says Dileep (30), a Chiranjeevi dupe. According to Dilip, on an average every month, they get to host 10 to 15 stage shows organised by the fans in different parts of the State. The shows are organised mostly to mark the launch or successful run of a movie involving a particular hero. The number of stage shows shoot up during the birthdays of the actors and festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Dasara.
"We are paid about Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 5,000 per show depending on the capacity of the organisers," says P. Bhaskar Rao, who impersonates actor Balakrishna in movies.
But Rao, who forms the popular quartet of dupes along with Chandu, Dileep and Nagaraju, has his own tinge of regret. While the others get pats and occasional opportunities to meet their idols, Rao had been unsuccessful in his attempts to meet Balakrishna.
While most dupe artistes are dependent on stage shows and small roles in movies for their income, B.L. Babu, a duplicate of Babu Mohan says he does it for sheer entertainment. "Though I had been doing roles in the movies for the past three decades, it was only a few years ago people suggested that I could become a good dupe of Babu Mohan," says Babu who is a businessman. He has done about three movies impersonating Babu Mohan.
"There are over 200 dupes resembling different actors and political personalities in the State," says film director, S. Babji, who now claims doing a research on them. In fact, it was Babji who in 1999 roped in over a dozen dupe artistes to make the comedy NTR Nagar.
R. BALAJI
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