Comedy From Hollywood

 It came in different sizes and shapes. But enjoyable nevertheless.

Silent Movie by Mel Brooks was my first intro to his films.. later saw many more. A combo of slapstick and intellectual stuff.

Woody Allen's brand of comedy was different- philosophical, about neurosis in New York, some bold themes..

The Naked Gun was very funny, starring Leslie Nielsen.

A Fish Called Wanda again, had a great cast of three or four good actors working together to create a lot of fun.

The Loves and Times of Scaramouche was a period film that had many fun moments..

Peter Sellers acted in some good Pink Panther Films, and The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu.

Movies To Remember - 1

 At least, I remember them, for various reasons. No. 1 on the list is Padosan.

An innocuous storyline. A simpleton (aptly named Bhola) has a neighbour- a hoity toity girl who loves music- whom he wants to impress. He tries learning how to sing, fails, and at the suggestion of his music guru, fakes the singing. She's impressed, till she discovers the faking. He wins the girl anyway, thanks to more shenanigans.

On the way, there is a rival. HER music teacher, whom he outwits in a competitive singing session, across the window-thanks to his guru singing while he lip-synchs.

May not seem much, but the acting, direction (by Jyoti Swaroop) and music elevate this bare story to heights of comedy rarely achieved in Hindi films. In today's lingo, it's ROFL.. makes you roll on the floor laughing, much of its length.

Brilliantly conceived and directed. Mehmood and Kishore Kumar, the supporting actors, steal the show, while the hero and heroine are more like props. A laugh riot, with great music by RD Burman, lyrics by Rajendra Krishan. 1968.

Madgaon Express- Film Review

 This film reminded me of a caper called "A Fish Called Wanda" that I saw in the late 80s in the U.S. John Cleese, Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis were the main actors in that.

This has Chhaya Kadam and Upendra Limaye as the loveable, inept gangsters, and three friends - a la Dil Chahta Hai- who plan a disastrous but adventurous Goa trip where nothing goes right.

A fun ride, with a lot of twists and turns, and crazy comedy with some glamour thrown in by way of Nora Fatehi. Easy on the brain, and a nice way to forget the serious stuff. 

Just for fun, go watch!

Dream Girl 2- Film Review

 Aayushman is one actor I like to watch. He generally excels in any role. Even here, where he plays a tough one.. acting as a female for most of the film- first a bar dancing girl, and then a coy wife/daughter-in-law. He is supported well by Paresh Rawal-another classy actor- and a couple of others including Rajpal Yadav, Seema Pahwa, Asrani. It's great fun while it lasts. Not too long, fortunately. The editor was not sleeping, like in some Hindi films.

The story involving many cliches, is not cliched because of the treatment, and is directed well. Annu Kapoor is a veteran at playing these roles now, and shines. 

See it if you enjoy sitcoms, or if you are a fan of Aayushman. Ananya Pandey doesn't have much to do, and does it well. 

Are O Sambha

 Kitney aadmi they?

Do, Sardaar.

Iconic stuff, the dialogues of Sholay.

Mausi being 'wooed' for Veeru, by his bosom pal Jai.

The water tank scene, in which mausi goes jail, chakki peesing and peesing.

Asrani's Hitler mouche. And agrez ke zamaane ke dialogue!

Jagdeep as Soorma Bhopali, speaking in that lingo..aese hi nahi etc.

Sanjeev Kumar's voice..not sure what they did, but it was deep, and impressive.

Basanti talking non-stop, versus A.K. Hangal's voice full of pathos..

Jai's laconic dialogue delivery.

Gabbar's self-absorbed persona. 

Helen and Jalal Agha in just 3 minutes of mesmerising song and dance.

Hats off to Ramesh Sippy and his team. Dwarka Divecha, the cinematographer in particular. And dialogue writers, Salim and Javed.

P G Wodehouse

 He was the first author who got me interested in Humour, apart from the comic books. Later, Pu. La. Deshpande in Marathi too. 

PGW created a world full of English Lords, and valets/butlers which to us was completely at odds with our reality. Yet, it was a fascinating world, and kept me glued to these stories. The plots themselves were mostly predictable. It seems that the Lords had very little work to do or none at all. Their time was equally divided between dodging aunts and creditors, and getting engaged to various girls in the vicinity and trying to wriggle out of it.

The Jeeves character was a perfect foil in some of these stories, the all-knowing Man Friday who got the Berties out of jams. The delightful use of English was of course, a major highlight, and some descriptions and metaphors are just outstanding. 

To this joyous world, even if fictional, a salute. And to its creator.

Unintended Comedies

 My top choices from films, Youtube- 

Randhir Kapoor as a dancer..his belly pops out from time to time.. in the song Tujhsa haseen dekha na kahin.. in the film Harjaee.

Deb Mukherjee in the film Ek Baar Muskura Do, sings Tu auron ki kyun ho gayi.. a song supposed to be full of pathos... hilarious. Just watch it.

Taher Shah. Angels is the song, and he is funny as hell (that became a pun!) -he was a Youtube sensation, at least for me.

NTR in his later films (Telugu) cavorting with females half his age was fun to watch on screen. I enjoyed the entertainment on offer.

The English dialogues in Telugu films were also a source of mirth- like "Rutherford, look up once" from Alluri Sitaramaraju, a good film otherwise.

You may have your favourites..

Nice Hollywood Films

Mackenna's Gold
Guns of Navarone
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lawrence of Arabia
Where Eagles Dare
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers
Diamonds are Forever
The Man with the Golden Gun
Herbie Goes Bananas
Romancing the Stone
Death on the Nile
Murder on the Orient Express
A Fish Called Wanda
The Man with Two Brains
Dead Poets' Society
Silent Movie
Blazing Saddles
History of the World Part 1 (Part 2 was never made, though there was a trailer with Hitler on skates)
The Loves and Times of Scaramouche
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
Star Wars
The Omen
The Mask
Gone With the Wind
Modern Times
The Great Dictator
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
Julius Caesar
Who's Afriad of Virginia Woolf?
Titanic
The Naked Gun
The Birds
Dial M for Murder
Casablanca
The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Oh, God (starring George Burns)
Airplane
Annie Hall

Intelligent Comedy by Women

Happened to watch a nice comedy show on TLC the name of which I forget. The name is immaterial. I was impressed by the female artists (this was a show for them)- comediennes. Why do we have male-dominated comedy shows, mostly? Stand-up is where equal opportunity should come in fairly easily. Why doesn't it?

On another note, I attended an Economic Times event-again the name of which I forget (proving that I deserve to be a prof.). It was a leadership contest for B-school students. There was only one female judge among a dozen- they were mostly CEOs or Business Leaders of some kind.

These shows/public events do send a message, even if symbolic. The first is a good attempt to showcase talent for comedy.The second is a reminder that corporates remain unequal for genders at the highest level. IIMs, incidentally, also have had few women directors. Just one currently and one long ago at IIM Lucknow that I know of. I am sure that's not due to lack of talent.

Here's hoping that more women show up when opportunities are made available at least- like driving in Saudi.

Film Review - Chi va Chi Sau Ka

This is a Marathi film deftly directed by the award-winning director Paresh Mokashi (Harishchandrachi Factory, a film about Dadasaheb Phalke, was by him). The title here refers to a girl aspiring to be a married woman.

It is a laugh-riot, barring a couple of serious scenes. Very interesting technique of story-telling, with quick-silver edits, keeps you engrossed. The witty yet believable dialogue and story gives a lot of weightage to characterisation of all the major players. The families and individuals grow on you, as the story rapidly progresses from a match made in heaven to a divorce made in the same place. And then, a second one in reverse order. The two sets of parents plotting first for the downfall of their kids'relationship, and then the reverse, is hilarious.

The lead actors were new to me, and did a great job. The support cast is terrific as a foil, particularly the feisty granny and the kid brother who is in a "committed" relationship at a young age (on a social medium) with his second girlfriend in school.

The film tackles a lot of modern themes, such as veganism, solar power, the environment, and a comic critique of our social customs (living with a stranger after marrying one, as in arranged marriages) is well-done too.

It gets my vote for a Go-watch. If you can find a subtitled version, non-Marathi guys can enjoy it too.

Comic Dialogue

Hindi film comedies or otherwise from which I remember funny dialogues-

From Sholay

Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti?

From Jaane Bhi Do Yaro

Yeh kya ho raha hai?

Aadha khao, aadha pheko, yeh Switzerland ka cake hai.

Bahut advanced country hai- hum dekha, udhar peene ka pani alag, gutter ka pani alag.

Shaant, gada-dhari Bheem, shaant.

Hum honge kaamyaab, hum honge kaamyaab ek din..

From Padosan

Tum humko ghoda bola?
Ek pe rehna jee, ya ghoda bolo ya chatur bolo

Mogambo khush hua (villain Amrish Puri delivers this)

Aap hamara kitna khayal rakhti hain..Nahane ke pani mein kewda, peene ke pani mein bewda (Mehmood in Naukar)

Top Films

I am approaching this top twenty (or more) from a different angle. I will try and list a few films from different genres, and see if they make sense in a list like this.

Simple Tales

Nil Battey Sannata, Rajnigandha, Chitchor

Suspense

Jewel Thief, Teesri Manzil, Ittefaq, Dial M for Murder, Shikaar, Aankhen (both Dharmendra), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

Serious Cinema

Anand, Arth, Aakrosh, Manthan, Mere Apne, Ingmar Bergman's films, Zorba the Greek

Romance

Bobby, Aradhana, Tere Mere Sapne, Ankhiyon ke Jaharonkhon Se, Casablanca, Amar Prem, Bridges of Madison County

Comedy

Chhoti si Baat, Chashme buddoor, Gol Maal, Chupke Chupke, Namak Halaal, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Padosan, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Finding Fanny, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Silent Movie, History of the World Part 1, The Loves and Times of Scaramouche

Action

Where Eagles Dare, Mackenna's Gold, Sholay

Period Dramas

Mughal-e-azam, Bahubali,

Foreign Films

Many Iranian films like The Salesman, The Separation, Kurosawa films like Red Beard, Seven Samurai, a couple of French and Italian films, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady (this could go into the comedy list too)

Mindless Formula

Hathi Mere Sathi, Seeta aur Geeta, Zanjeer, Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Amar Akbar Anthony, Jugnu, Roti, Humjoli, Some Govinda films, Some Telugu films with NTR, James Bond Films with Roger Moore, Tamil films with Prabhu Deva..

TV Artists That I Remember

I have mostly stopped watching TV these days, as it generally has asinine programs. But once upon a time, I actually watched it, and recount with fondness some shows and artists.

The entire cast of Hum Paanch led by Ashok Saraf. It had a girl 'dada' among his kids.

Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak, Sumeet Raghavan ...of Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai

Rajit Kapoor of Byomkesh Bakshi

Rajni, starring Priya Tendulkar

Surbhi, with Siddarth Kak and Renuka Shahane

Karamchand with Pankaj Kapur

Tehkikaat starring Vijay Anand

Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi with Rakesh Bedi, Satish Shah Swaroop Sampat and Shafi Inamdar

Favourite Films- Hollywood

Though I have seen a few Iranian and French (and Japanese) films that are very good, I will list out some favourite Hollywood films here.

1. My Fair Lady based on Shaw's Pygmalion, about making a lady out of a flower-girl. Classic.
2. The Sound of Music. One of the best in all departments-conceptualisation and execution. Immortal.
3. Psycho. A classic in its genre from the master, Alfred Hitchcock.
4. Zorba the Greek. To me, a major philosophical book and film. Top ten for the book too.
5. The Omen. I generally dislike horror, but Gregory Peck warrants an exception.
6. Mackenna's Gold. Brilliant outdoor film. Omar Sharif in a great role.
7. Where Eagles Dare. Spectacular war-time film of a daring rescue. Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, and the scenery were amazing.
8. Silent Movie. Mel Brooks' spoof on Hollywood studios.
9. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud. I liked it for the way the mystery was handled. Unlike Karz, which was inspired by it.
10. Come September. Rock Hudson in a romantic comedy with Gina Lollobrigida. A fun film, that probably was the inspiration for Jungle Mein Mangal.
11. Dances With Wolves. A convincing film about America's native (Red) Indians. I think it starred Kevin Costner.

Comedies
As a genre, I like comedies best. I will include most movies made by Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, To Be Or Not To Be, History of the World Part 1, Spaceballs) for their goofy humour, Woody Allen (for the sardonic humour), and a few other independent films like The Loves and Times of Scaramouche in which there is a funny Napoleon,  A Fish Called Wanda, and The Naked Gun.

In Praise of Pankaj Kapur

I find him one of the most under-rated and under-utilised actors in films. Most films in which he appears, he leaves an indelible mark. Even the not-so-successful ones. He is a trained theatre actor, and continues to act there.

A cult movie which was successful, and first drew my attention to him, was Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. Along with Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani and Satish Shah, it was a laugh riot. Then came TV serial Karamchand Jasoos in 1985 or so, which was a big hit among kids in particular. He played the title role. We as an M.R. agency had done some research on the show in Mumbai. He dubbed for Ben Kingsley in Attenborough's Gandhi.

Recent films of histhat I have seen were Matroo ki Bijli ka Mandola and Finding Fanny. In both, the film has gone a few notches higher because of his acting. I don't remember many of his serious roles, like Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, and others, but in comic roles, his dialogue delivery, expression, and timing are superb.

The Comedians

I mean the directors, not the actors, though some of them were both.

In Hollywood, the first guy that comes to mind is Woody Allen. He made several good films, one as recently as a couple of years ago. Most of these had wonderful humour, mostly about human relationships, but also a lot of other things. Sometimes dark humour, but very witty. And delivered with deadpan expressions. A genius.

A very different kind of humour (in your face, slaspstick) is to be found in Mel Brooks' films. Usually spoofs on something (Silent Movie was about Hollywood itself), I still remembers scenes from films of his I watched many years ago-Blazing Saddles (spoof on Western Cowboy movies), History of the World (about major events in history), To Be Or Not To Be (on Hitler), and a Star Wars spoof called Spaceballs. I remembered the last again while watching The Martian recently.

Closer home in India, directors of good comedy were Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Both masters of situational humour, they made between them, great films like Chupke Chupke, Chhoti Si Baat, Shaukeen, Gol Maal and Naram Garam. Angoor by Gulzar was another great comedy. Though not known for comedy, Satyen Bose's Chalti ka Naam Gaadi with Kishore Kumar was an excellent romantic comedy. So was Padosan, directed by Jyoti Swaroop. Mehmood's role in it was immortal, on of the best ever.

Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon

Some deft direction and dialogues make this an entertaining, eminently watchable film. If you are a Kapil Sharma fan and are looking for light entertainment, go for it.

It's not a classic, but it's good fun. Its theme is not novel, except it stretches the Gharwali Baharwali (two wives) concept to four. How the hero gets into this muddled life (saving women in distress and getting hitched against his will), and then how he tries to maintain the wives at arm's length from one another is the story, but there's a lot of novelty in the form of minor characters.

Arbaaz Khan as the deaf Don, Sharat Saxena, the maidservant, are the ones I liked in particular. The watchman too. The oft-repeated line "Bhagwan aisa pati sabko de" is used very well, to underline the irony of his predicament.

The music is passable, and so are the actresses in the lead role(s).

Shaukeens- Film Review

There is a feeling I get when I watch remakes of good films done amateurishly or in a crass manner. I got that with this film. Last time I had it was with Humshakals, which was not a remake, but crass and stupid nevertheless.

There was this movie called Shaukeen directed by Basu Chatterjee in the eighties sometime, which had three very good actors in the lead roles, Rati Agnihotri as the object of their affection (or lust, if you prefer), and a hilarious series of events unfolding. At the time it was made, this theme was quite novel, but apart from that, the three oldies (Ashok Kumar, AK Hangal and Utpal Dutt) brought such class to the proceedings, that it would be tough to emulate. And Shaukeens shows how true that is.

The stories are similar- the three lustful old men going off into the woods to get themselves a girl, and funny ending to their attempts. Whereas the first one made you laugh or smile, this one ends in a whimper. Akshay Kumar tries his best to infuse life into the second half, but that only brings on a half-smile. Maybe I'll go read Chetan Bhagat's Half-girlfriend to get over this one.

Haider and More

Saw Haider and liked it, but there are a few improvements that would have made it a classic for me. Mostly, it's the pace. It is slow in the first half, which as a marketing man, I find difficult to take. The story is quite static in half one. It takes too long to just establish the fact that Haider (Shahid Kapoor) was sent away to study, his father taken away by cops, and that Shraddha loves him. The cinematography keeps it going, with lovely shots of Kashmir.

The screenplay and editing needed to be crisp, for a story like this one. The complexity of the relationships and the dilemmas of all the characters does come through, but at the cost of early disinterest in the happenings. If it was an adventure like Sholay, the action would keep you glued, but here, it should have been edited far better. Sequences with Shraddha's brother, the army interrogation, and a few others were just superfluous, and added unnecessary drag.

Most Hindi films suffer from this malady, though. The locales, the acting and the action in the second half are really good. Usually, the first half is more satisfying in Hindi films- here, it's the opposite. I liked Irrfan the best, though his role is short. I was reminded of the Himalayan shootouts in Rajesh Khanna's potboiler "Roti" at the end.

Moral of the story? Your dilemmas can kill others. Watch out!

Also re-watched a few comedies over the last few days, all different from each other. Mel Brooks' History of the World Part 1, Carry On in The Jungle, and Naked Gun 2 and a 1/2. All great fun, but done very differently. 

One liners- Babban Khan

Suppose you had to come up with one liners for a living. What would you produce? I thought about this, and figured that comedians and their writers have a tough job. Some favourite subjects that comedians have are politics, imitations of celebrities (Johny Lever was good at this), weight (Bharti, TV comedienne who is fat herself, uses it well in her acts), spouses, bathroom happenings, and current events. This guy called Babban Khan was from Hyderabad and did an act called Adrak Ke Panje in the seventies before TV was a household item.

He kept people ROFLing, to use today's lingo, with a single dilapidated set, and a few characters who acted as a foil for himself. He played a poor clerk with a large family, battling a landlord pursuing his dues, inflation, and many other common problems of a common man. His language in the show was Hyderabadi, a mix of Hindi and Urdu.

Some of his jokes-

A neighbour complains to him that one of his (many) sons spat on him. He replies,

"Bura mat mano, kahin jagah nahin mili isliye thook diya honga," pointing to overpopulation, which left little space to do anything.

A friend comes to him, asking that he should get his son a job somewhere. Jobs were very difficult to get in an economy growing at the Hindu rate of growth then. So Khan interviews this guy to ascertain his skill set. The interview proceeds (in Hyderabadi-translation attempted )

Tereku driving aata? (Can you drive?)

Nahin (no)

Aree, agar driving aaye to main driver ka naukri dila sakta tha. (I'd have got you a driver's job if you could drive).

Achcha, tereku fighting aata? (Can you fight?)
Nahi. (no)

Are, fighting aata to main fightmaster bana deta (I could have made you a fight master)

Achcha, Acting aata? (Can you act?)
Nahi.

Are, acting aaye to main actor ka kaam dilata tha.. (I could have made you an actor, if only..)

and finally,

Thhek hai, tereku dimag hai? (Do you have brains?)
Hai (yes)

Arre, agar tereku dimag nahin rehta to police mein naukri dila sakta tha na.
(If you didn't have brains, I could have got you a policeman's job).

And many more topical, brilliant one-liners, that keep you rolling on the floor.

I have one of my own to end this-

Do you 'facebook' because it is so hard to face a book?