ChaalBaaz

Trickster) is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language slapstick film directed by Pankaj Parashar and written by Rajesh Mazumdar and Kamlesh Pandey.

Upon its release, ChaalBaaz was well received by critics and audiences alike, and emerged a commercial success, eventually becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1989.

Among the elements of the movie that were highly appreciated included the film's story, music and Sridevi's performance in the dual role, which is considered to be one of her best.

Anju ends up with her uncle Tribhuvan (Anupam Kher) and aunt Amba (Rohini Hattangadi), while Manju is raised in a slum environment.

This results in Tribhuvan and Amba bringing Anju up as a coy and easily frightened girl, merely keeping her alive so she can sign off the property in their name.

The house servant Daddu (Annu Kapoor), Anju's younger brother Raja (Aftab Shivdasani), and a pet dog sympathize with her plight.

When Indian classical music plays at the party, Anju is unable to resist and bursts out dancing but ends up accidentally slapping Tribhuvan.

She spends her days tricking people in the village to forgo her loans and is childhood friends with her neighbor and taxi driver Jaggu (Rajnikanth).

Vishwanath has been pestering Suraj to get married for a while now and one day, when he shows him Anju's photo as a prospective marriage offer, he agrees, mistaking her to be Manju.

When Rao approached Pankuj, he expressed his desire to make a film with Sridevi, who was popular at that time, owing to the success of Mr. India (1987).

When Pankuj met Sridevi and she asked for the script, he narrated to her the plot of Seeta Aur Geeta which she liked and communicated her willingness to be a part of the film to Rao in Telugu.

[5] The reason behind Deol accepting the film was that, his father Dharmendra had done a similar role in Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) and he wanted people to remember them for that.

[6] Annu Kapoor was cast in the role of the servant Daddu, a character double of his age at that time while Aftab Shivdasani appeared as a child artist.

[4] Acting upon her suggestion, Pankuj decided to change the customes every four lines and according separately built sets were prepared for the song "Mera Bemar Tera Dil".

[11] The Times of India article "Bollywood's Hit Double Roles" stated: "Sridevi's performance rocked the box office".

[14] Speaking to The Indian Express about Sridevi's act in ChaalBaaz, the director Pankaj Parashar said "She proved her range with the movie and after that she got lots of offers which saw her in a double role".

In 2021, a reboot titled ChaalBaaz in London was announced by T-Series with the same director and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead dual role; the film was later put on hold.