Laugh your woes away. Review on Five Best Hindi Comedy Movies

Laughter’s the best medicine - one proverb that’s old hat and yet very relevant. Yet, very few movies made in Bollywood have made us laugh-till-we-cried. A few come to mind right away. Maybe, the biggest film industry in the world prefers tears to ha ha ha ha.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron

India’s first and perhaps only dark comedy. Two bumbling photographers Sudhir and Vinod (Naseerduddin Shah and Ravi Baswani respectively) happen to witness a murder. They get in touch with Shobha (modeled after Shobha De), the fiery editor of a newspaper and the trio get set to unearth a politically nefarious plot. From here on things get hilariously out of control. One rib-tickling episode is followed by another. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron is director Kundan Shah’s best effort to date. Even the man acknowledges so. “It’s a shame that I have not been able to improve on it. It’s a cross that I have to carry all my life,” he once said to yours truly.

Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi

The magic of the Ganguli brothers – Ashok, Anoop, and Kishore – to simply put it – is irresistible. A black and white movie this, it colors your life with its riotous tale of the story of three brothers who have vowed to keep away from girls. The greatness of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi is also enhanced by its mellifluous music. If you have missed this movie … too bad. Do anything – beg, borrow, or steal, but get yourself a CD of the film.

Pyaar Kiye Ja

Kishore Kumar and Mehmood team up for the first time in this, one-dhamaal-of-a-movie. A romantic comedy, Pyaar Kiye Ja is the story of three young men, Shashi Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, and Mehmood. Shashi hails from a poor family, but his problems arise from the fact that he is in love with a rich man’s (played by Om Prakash) daughter. His friend Kishore Kumar loves the rich man’s younger daughter. Kishore agrees to help Shashi and impersonates as his father. The ‘father-son’ duo stays in Om Prakash’s house and enjoys his hospitality. This theme was revisited in David Dhawan’s ‘Haseena Maan Jayegi’. Mehmood culminates the laugh-a-minute riot triangle. He is Om Prakash’s good-for-nothing son who wants to fleece some money from his father to make a movie. The scene where he narrates his plot to his father is very funny and has me in splits. A to-die-for comedy.

Gol Maal

Undoubtedly, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s best comedy. Amol Palekar excels as the common man here. Ram (Palekar) is employed by the irresistible Utpal Dutt, and one day, to save his skin creates a ‘twin’ (Laxman) for himself. Initially, he thinks he has extricated himself from a tricky situation. But, things become complicated for him when Dutt’s daughter (played by Bindya Goswami), falls in love with Laxman. Things keep on getting unbearable for Ram and extremely hilarious for the audience. Gulzar’s quicksilver wit is adorable, while the performances, especially by Palekar and Dutt are memorable, as they, without resorting to clichés, make their characters believable. If there is one comedy that needs to be revisited time and again, it has to be Gol Maal.

Angoor

Gol Maal’s dialogue writer Gulzar makes merry with his adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Comedy of Errors’. Two pair of long-lost twins (played by Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma), unknowingly cross paths and create a veritable comic mayhem. Sanjeev Kumar excels in his double role of the cynical and arrogant husband, and a near neurotic, lover of thriller novels. Deven Verma is adorable and provides ‘double’ support to Sanjeev Kumar. A must for those who want to laugh their blues away.