A chuckle, a smile and a loud roar of laughter

These films give us all that and much more

Bollywood comedy movies are not easy to make and direct. Most directors agree that comedies require much more finesse and style than the audience ever realises. Maybe this is the reason why comedies become a part of our memories and when we think about our favourite movies – most of them are comedies. You can watch them again and again, and even though you know the punch- lines, they still make you laugh.

There are many films which can vie for the top 5 slots among the best comedies made by Bollywood, but these are our favourites. There are many who will disagree with us because their choices are not a part of this list – we are sure they will let us know very soon!!

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron:

Undoubtedly, the best comedy film ever made by Bollywood. Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Vaswani act as the hapless photographers who keep getting involved in precarious and hilarious situations due to their stupidity and due to unforeseen circumstances. Ably assisted by Satish Shah, Om Puri and Pankaj Kapur, the entire film just seems to roller coast from one ridiculous situation to another. The “Draupadi Cheer Haran” scene can easily be classified as the classic situational comedy scene. Mahabaharata was never the same after this. Satish Shah as a corpse being pushed around from room to room being chased by a bunch of goons and innumerable fools still has people laughing uproariously. The film did not do too well initially, but has now acquired a cult status.

Andaz Apna Apna:

This 1994 release from Rajkumar Santoshi had Aamir and Salman playing conmen and suitors of Raveena Tandon. Their attempts to outwit each other and also prevent the heroine from being kidnapped by her uncle form the cornerstone of the film. Who can forget  Aamir’s famous line  “aap to purush nahin, mahapurush hain” and the climax which has all of them trying to explain the situation to each other. Paresh Rawal played a double role and out surpassed even his own level of histrionics. This film can even now make you chuckle and smile and no matter how often you watch it, it is still a great film.

Chalti Ka Naam Gaddi:

Ashok Kumar as a misogynist elder brother, a forlorn Kishore Kumar trying to chase the beautiful Madhubala and not fall into his brother’s bad books, and the youngest Anup Kumar trying to fathom the complexities of his family – do you need anything else to make a great comedy film? Released in 1958 this movie was one of the earliest comedies ever made by Mumbai, and even today it’s DVD is in great demand. The Ganguly brothers effortlessly carried the film on their shoulders, and the great music from S D Burman was just icing on this cake.

Padosan:

Kishore Kumar with a “bodhi” and Mehmood as a Tamilian music teacher were an irresistible combination. One of the most unforgettable scenes in this film was the singing competition between Mehmood and Kishore Kumar providing the background score to a lip-synching Sunil Dutt. Saira Banu and Sunil Dutt were the hero and heroine of this film but they were completely over-shadowed by the supporting cast.

Golmaal:

There are many films which will vie for this spot but our vote has gone to the original Golmaal starring Utpal Dutt, Amol Palekar and Bindiya Goswami, released in 1979. There have been many sequels after this one but none of them matched the zany antics of the first film and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s deft touch. Rib-tickling dialogues by Rahi Masoom Reza such as ” jiske paas mooch nahi, uske pass mann nahi hai ” and “tum ab sochne bhi lag gayi ho? ” were the backbone of the film. Using the clichéd storyline of double roles being played to hoodwink a girlfriend’s father supported by some great performances and excellent screenplay, Hrishikesh Mukherjee gave us an all time classic film.