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Remember Sholay where Asrani, playing a jailor, was taken for a ride by Veeru and Vijay? He was modelled after Adolf Hitler’s image — his walk, the moustache and clipped dialogue delivery, including the way he swung his baton. But Sholay was no comedy film. Nor did Asrani create gags to make people laugh. He did it simply through his body language, the way he delivered his lines and his general attitude. His refrain "Hum Angrezon ke Zamane ke jailor hain" made the audience go into splits. This is a brilliant example of comic skits inserted into a serious film. It was funny, caustic and intelligent. The ‘suicide’ act of Veeru is another example.
At the other end, we have Balki’s Cheeni Kum, a frothy but unusual love story between an aged restaurateur and a young girl, heavily spiced with a blackmailing father played by Paresh Rawal. Between these two is the David Dhawan School. When his pop-up comedy flick Partner was declared a hit, a chain of fun films began to hit the theatres. Partner reportedly made Rs 300 million in its opening week. The multiplexes and movie theatres were suddenly chock-full of comedy releases — Bhagam Bhag, Golmaal, Heyy Babyy and Bheja Fry. The most remarkable success story is that of Bheja Fry — made on a modest budget of just Rs 5.5 million. With Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor in the lead, the film grossed more that five times its cost. When it comes to comedy, the multiplex viewers are less demanding. They continue to patronise slapstick comedies that were made famous by Dhawan years ago. Priyadarshan made a mark at the boxoffice with Hera Pheri. The comic genre has, perhaps, come full circle with Munna Bhai MBBS. The film was a superhit and so was its sequel Lage Raho Munnabhai. Comedy flicks have become the norm of the day. Bollywood has been witness to No Entry, Garam Masala, Malamal Weekly, Phir Hera Pheri, Hungama, Golmaal series, etc. These films ensure entertainment and a lot of laughter with illogical situations and witty one-liners. Comedy in Hindi cinema is derived from other comic forms in folk theatrical traditions where performers like the bahrupiya, the nakkal, the bhand and the bhagatiya concentrated exclusively on entertaining their audience through their typical brand of jokes, mime acts, gags, disguises and funny antics. Classical English theatre had the court jester as a mandatory character while circus performances still have, at least, two clowns to entertain the children around the ring. Why, even our standard pack of cards has a joker suggesting that we cannot live without that occasional dose of fun and laughter in our lives.
Cinema, however, gave a different perspective and image to comedy as an art form. It began as comic relief in all genres of films. In the 1950s, two full-length comedy films set the trend of comedy as a special genre. One was Bhagwan’s Albela and the other was Kishore Kumar’s Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. Both were superhits. The real hero of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi was a 1928 Chevrolet that originally belonged to the three brothers — Ashok, Anup and Kishore Kumar’s father. The story romps around on this rickety, antique four-wheeler that refuses to start if there is a woman anywhere near. The car race in the climactic scene, where Kishore plays every trick to beat his opponent makes one forget all woes as one watches the film come to a wonderful closure. Actors who have created their distinct genre of comedy are Dixit, Gope, Bhagwan, Kishore Kumar, I.S. Johar, Mehmood, Johnny Walker, Jagdeep, Asrani, Om Prakash, Sunder, Mukri, Keshto Mukherjee, Agha, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and so on. Today, there are no special ‘comic’ actors except the occasional Johnny Lever because the top heroes have smoothly made the jump on to the comedy wagon, the trend having been established by Govinda. Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Tusshar Kapoor or Sanjay Dutt — everyone is ready to jump. Dharmendra has a wonderful sense of timing. So do Ratna Pathak and Juhi Chawla. The most versatile actors in the industry today who can slip into any role — comic, villainous, serious, or any other are Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Vinay Shukla, Mithun Chakraborty and Arshad Warsi. They are as talented and as versatile as late veterans Utpal Dutt and Ashok Kumar. Unlike mainstream heroes or villains, comedian must be good at everything — costume and make-up detailing, sense of timing, rhythm and pause in performance, creating a typical USP, concocting comic gags and mannerisms in keeping with a given situation in the film. Will we have another Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Basu Chatterjee?
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