Mahesh Bhatt is known for making gloomy dark films over the years. However, making Duplicate in 1998, was because of his youngest daughter Alia Bhatt, who was 4 year old back then, and Bhatt wanted to impress her with a film that he could show.
He said, “It’s a film that I am looking forward to showing my children,” for his earlier films were too dark and filled with violence to show to his children. And Duplicate was to impress his 4-year-old daughter Alia Bhatt.
He added, “Children normally don’t get impressed by their parents. The chances are that I might just impress my four-year-old girl Alia by Duplicate,” as stated in Hindustan Times.