Your boss has given you a deadline that passed yesterday?
Your exam results are 2 days away & each minute passes like an hour?
Your mom dint let you out for a late night party & you are at home, cribbing?
What you need is a rib tickling, bone cracking, head swirling laugh to make you forget all the lean moments or add spice to your life & take you to a different world.
So Get a VCD/DVD, cajole your cable guy, or if you are lucky enough get movie tickets for these gems & you are ready to take a joy ride.
Speaking of comedies I seriously feel, bollywood has a lot lacking. Hindi comedies are more of a spoof or a take on Police Inspectors/Doctors/Lawers/Madrasis/Sindihis...& more often than not,These lots are shown in a very poor light.
Some Time-tested comedy plots are :
A brainless Police Constable,A kanjus (Stingy) Marwadi ,A Heavily aceented sindhi lady or a Madrasi guy. Who don’t eat anything except papad & idlies !
Given the number of films bollywood churns out each year,comedy films may not even be 1% of that figure, It’s really very sad. Hindi cinema is at a want of subtle comedies, which are full of funny one-liners. I think words can make us laugh more than actions.
Whack me if you want to, But I think that is the reason I don’t find Charlie Chaplin Funny.
But still, given the very few comedy films that Bollywood has managed to bring out for us, Here are my top 5!
The countdown begins...
~Andaz Apna Apna~
Starring: Aamir Khan , Salman Khan , Raveena Tandon , Karishma Kapoor , Paresh Rawal.
Director: Raj kumar Santoshi.
You ought to watch this movie if you thought Aamir is fit only for serious,or the chocolate faced romantic boy type of roles & If you want to see Salman wearing a shirt in the whole movie !
The only comedy movie of recent times, which will keep you, glued to the screen from scene 1.A story of two like minded lazy vagabonds who just want to get rich by getting married to daughter of a rich wealthy businessman.
Full of twists, turns & confusions. Aaamir in particular & salman are very spontaneous with thier dialogues. Raveena & Karishma's performance are passe. Paresh Rawal, The King Of Good Times! in a double role as Rich guy & his twin brother the Bad guy who wants to steal all his property is simply superb. Shakti Kappor as 'Crime Master GOGA' is at his Stupid comical best.
Some very funny scenes involving Aamir,Salman & Paresh raval will really have you rolling. O.P Nayyar of yester years composed some not so good music for this movie. But manages to rope in some nostalgia!
Some Memorable scenes.
Aamir & Salman at the Hotel.'Do chai kyon, Do chai Kyon.. Do dost ek pyale main chai piyenge.
Aamir, Salman & Paresh Rawal when,they arrive to give the Ransom Money..
The climax..
~Padoson~
Starring :Mehmood , Sunil Dutt ,Kishore Kumar, Saira Bano
Director Jyoti Swaroop
Arey Bangduo..This is an unforgettable gem. Every scene , song & dialogue will remain etched in memory. I Must have watched it every time it is shown on Cable. Will watch it every time I possibly can!
Bhola,Sunil dutt true to the name of the character he portrays is a simpleton to the core.It's a story of this guy, who falls head over heels for an mod & fashionable rich girl,Bindu.Being very naive he approaches his friend Kishore Kumar to help him win over the Lady's heart.
Bindu, cos of an earlier tiff with Sunil dutt pretends to be in love with Mehmood, her music teacher.
What follows is sheer joy & laughter. The trio has enacted their respective characters magnificently.I think, the master portrayal of The MADRASI by Mehmood started the trend of keeping a madrasi comedian in most of the movies that followed. But Mehmoods acting of Masterji was something superb. One just cannot say that he is not an actual Madrasi Dance teacher.Simple genius.
Then there is KK , The less said about him is better I think.No praises are enough for this demigod.
Saira Bano, I never liked. So if I say she wasn't good in this movie that would be biased opinion.So I wont judge her.
Some Memorable scenes.
The song..Ek Chaturnar badi hoshiyar.
Sunil Dutt walking with one hand risen up to slap Bindu.
I wud say the most of the scenes..
~Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron~
Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Satish Kaushik, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapoor, Neena Gupta, Bhakti Bharve, Satish Kaushik
Director: Kundan Shah
A very unimpressive star cast for a comedy movies, with none of the comedy big-wigs of that time being in the movie. But each one of them then went to create a niche for themselves either in TV, or the big screen. But nobody can deny that JBDY was one of the best comedies produced with no 'Comedian' In the star caste.
Naseerudin Shah & Ravi Baswani are two Photographers with no business coming thru to them. Bhakti Barve, an editor of a daily Scandalous tabloid employs them to unmask the evil doings of a Builder ( Pankaj Kapoor).
The whole plot then turn topsy-turvy with NS & RB unintentionally capturing the murder of Satish Shah in their camera. Everyone except Bhakti Barve makes you laugh in the film.
Some Memorable scenes.
Thoda Khao Thoda Phenko.. Maja Aayega...
The confusion in the Mahabharat drama.
Satish shah's Acting as the Corpse for such a long time.
Om Puri as the loud mouth drunkard !
~Chalti ka naam Gaadi~
Starring: Kishore Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Anoop Kumar, Madhubala
Director: Satyen Bose
This Movie can be placed in the best of many categories.Best Comedy. Best Movie, Best songs. Best Acting.
The Ganguly brothers Ashok, Anup & Kishore star in this hilarious comedy. An Evergreen Classic with great songs.
A story of these bachelor brothers , with Ashok kumar being a Lady-Hater & the younger siblings who follow whatever the eldest one says.
Madhubala’s Entry scene is simple unforgettable & the song that follows is a classic. The picturisation of all the songs is also very comical, something that is very rare in Indian cinema.
The mere presence of the Three brothers together in this movie is enough to start a smile on your face. This is a comedy from start to finish.. don’t even miss the Titles. Even they will tickle you!
~Angoor~
Starring Sanjeev Kumar, Deven Verma, Mausmi, Deepti Naval, Aruna Irani
Director Gulzar
Though inspired from The Comedy Of Errors by the Bard.This movie is the BEST COMEDY BOLLYWOOD HAS EVER PRODUCED.The story of two pairs of twins. Sanjeev Kumar(Ashok) & Deven Varma(Bahadur). Who are masters & servants in both cases. & both also have the same names to add to the already confused stream of things.Mind boggling situations & confusions throughout the movie so well directed & planned by Gulzar.Dialogue writing & scripting would be such a difficult thing for such movies. But it is sure done with finesse in Angoor.
The scenes & situations are better seen than explained here. So if you are very unlucky one who hasn’t seen this movie. Grab a copy today.
ALL the scenes are memorable; to list a few is very very difficult!
Some Memorable scenes.
Sanjeev Kumar in the train , showing deven varma how to catch a thief
Preetam… aan milo…
The interaction of Sanjeev Kumar with the taxi driver…
Sanjeev kumar at the Jeweler shop.
The last half hour of the movie is pure magic…
In addition to the list above, some movies worth a mention are Chupke Chupke,Pushpak, Golmaal,Khata Meetha,Shaukeen,Hera pheri,Johar Mehmood movies.
If Laughter is the best medicine. Then people who make us laugh ought to be the best Doctors !!!
