The Hindu Business Line : Comic capers

Priyadarshan's Malamaal Weekly has been declared a hit. About a village, its inhabitants, a lottery, and a whole lot of buffoonery, the film has been running to `nearly 80 per cent collections' in the past three weeks; and the fact that there are no big Bollywood releases in March has fortuitously given it more running time.

For those who have been watching the director's breathtaking turnover (among others, he had back-to-back movies releasing on Diwali last year; Kyunki and Garam Masala) closely, it's evident that he makes the same kind of film. Whether he sets it in a village or town, whether it is a romance (Saat Rang Ke Sapnay), or a no-holds barred comedy (Hera Pheri), or both (Hulchul), the director crowds his films with actors who have proven track records in making people laugh. His style is exactly the same in both genres — loud, louder, loudest. No subtleties for him.

Except for three films — Virasat, Kala Pani, and the really early Gardish — where he incorporated some quiet, contemplative flourishes, the rest of his line-up is trademarked with humour, which shouts from the rooftop. In Malamaal Weekly, he takes ace comic Paresh Rawal, who is present in practically all his films, fabulous actor Om Puri, the not-so-visible Asrani, and teams them with a younger, but nearly as accomplished Rajpal Yadav, stirs in the most inane script he can lay his hands on, gifts all the actors screamingly obvious dialogues, and comes up trumps.

Malamaal's performance at the box office proves a couple of things: that last year's run of successful comedies looks all set to continue this year. Some of 2005's most successful films were comedies (No Entry made Rs 35 crore on an investment of Rs 15 crore, Garam Masala made Rs 22 crore on Rs 12 crore, and Kya Kool Hain Hum made Rs 18-20 crore on Rs 5 crore, making it the biggest hit of the year). And two, that in comic capers, just like in romances, it is as important to take the right faces. There can't be another Govinda, who combined a hero's broader appeal with a guy who was laugh-out-loud funny. But his reign, in David Dhawan's best movies, proved that a lead actor had to have the ability to be funny.

Amitabh Bachchan, and before him, Dilip Kumar, demonstrated this superbly. The most memorable of both men's films had them display their talent on all fronts amply. Dilip Kumar's tragic roles may be memorable, but if you ask most people what they loved him in most, the answer mostly is, Ganga Jamuna. He had done the hero thing — the brooding, romancing, singing, and the fighting — but he proved his versatility with his range of humour.

With the Big B, too, a popularity vote would have Amar Akbar Anthony high on the list. Bachchan's lanky frame and intense persona conquered the hero's space completely in the previous Deewar and Zanjeer, where he doesn't crack a smile; but in Sholay, his sardonic one-liners won him the fan-following of millions, and Jaya Bachchan's widow's heart. And those who remember Chupke Chupke, Hrishikesh Mukherjee's little gem of a movie, rate it amongst Bachchan's best.

The hallmark of a complete actor is to be able to do everything well, especially in Bollywood where the male lead has had to carry the film on his shoulders, with the heroine being sidelined to a pretty appendage. But the industry has also been quick to box in actors and cement their images. Govinda tried his hand at `serious' stuff and proved that he was good in other departments too, but that wasn't what his fans wanted.

Bollywood's makeover

But Bollywood is a changing place these days. Storytellers are looking for difference, and one way of building that in is to offer people a rounded character.

Someone like Saif Ali Khan's bumbling cartoonist in Hum Tum, or his likeable boy-turning-into-man character in Dil Chahta Hai, or Salaam Namaste's looking-for-true-love chef is what the multiplex audience wants these days.

Shah Rukh Khan, who uses impishness wherever he can, has brandished humour as a potent weapon. Akshay Kumar deadpans well (in many scenes in Khakee, he matches Big B in his ability to underplay). So does Abhishek, when given a chance.

Today, leading men are willing to experiment, and getting into the skin of their characters. Superstars are allowed to laugh at themselves (SRK sends himself up quite beautifully; Saif can do self-deprecation very nicely indeed). Rom coms — romantic comedies — where lover boys have to be necessarily funny, have finally come into their own in Bollywood. Salaam Namaste's dream run translated into a fat bottomline for Yashraj Films in 2005.

But the big-ticket hits are still the out-and-out comedies (rom coms are merely multiplex fodder). Buoyed by the performance of the genre, all the funny men are busy making sequels. Priyan is busy with Phir Hera Pheri, Sajid Nadiadwala is making Judwa 2 (the first had Salman Khan and David Dhawan making whoopee), and Raj Kumar Hirani is hopefully going to serve up rollicking comedy-with-great emotion in his summer release Munnabhani Meets Mahatma Gandhi, like in his wonderful Munnabhai MBBS.

The good news is that the funnies are also trying to build in difference, even though they know the movie may appeal to a niche audience. Something like Ladies Tailor with Rajpal Yadav may find more takers than Rajat Kapoor's Mixed Doubles, starring multiplex favourite Konkona Sharma, but the fact that both kinds of movie are being made is something to celebrate.

Coming up soon are Mukta Arts's Shaadi Se Pehle, Satish Kaushik's Milenge Milenge, Priyan's Chhup Chhup Ke, and Indra Kumar's Pyare Mohan. And in the pipeline is the brilliantly cast Pyaar Ke Side Effects, with Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat, a PNC production.

There's more to comedy that the bedroom-sex caper, and the slapstick skidding-on-banana-peel number. Bollywood is waking up, and it has started to show.