While Bollywood has made many comic capers, some characters have gone on to become legendary. Be it the bumbling idiots like Amar and Prem from Andaz Apna Apna or the tapori circuit, these are many characters that have had the audience laughing out loud. Here are some who are among our favourite funny people seen on the big screen.
Bhavani Shankar
Utpal Dutt in Gol Maal (1979)
The holier-than-you Bhavani Shankar catches his “simple”, much-loved employee Ram Prasad Sharma (Amol Palekar) bunking work to watch a football match. The imaginative employee spins a tale of him having a no-good twin. This leads to a comedy of chaos. Utpal Dutt plays a harrowed father who thinks that the evil twin is out to woo his daughter..
Parimal Tripathi
Dharmendra in Chupke Chupke (1975)
Dharmendra plays a Botany professor who takes on the role of a shuddh-Hindi-speaking driver to outsmart his brother-in-law. He involves his buddies in this fun game of con. Dharmendra was at his funniest best as he used big Hindi words and then went on to add various idiosyncrasies. He convinces his brother-in-law that he is trying to woo the married Sharmila Tagore. His friends partake in the madness.
Calendar
Satish Kaushik in Mr India (1987)
He played the male nanny to the kids that live with Anil Kapoor. Keeping away from the usual slapstick comedy, it was the harassment he faced at the hands of the kids that saw Satish Kaushik raise laughs.
Crime Master Gogo
Shakti Kapoor in Andaz Apna Apna (1994)
‘Crime Master Gogo naam hai mera … aankhen nikaal kar gotiyaan khelta hoon main’ and ‘Aaya hoon, kuch to chura kar jaunga … khandani chor hoon main, khandani’ these are some of the lines that went to become epic. Shakti Kapoor played a cape-sporting goon who called himself Mogambo Ka Bhatija.
Amar and Prem
Aamir Khan and Salman Khan in Andaz Apna Apna
The two lovable losers want to make it big without any hard work. The way out is to marry a rich heiress. Aamir’s ‘Haila’ was matched by Salman’s ‘Ooi Maa’. The two actors matched each other’s acting chops. This is the only movie that starred the two superstars together. Surprisingly, the movie that is an epic today was a flop back then.
Babulal
Johnny Lever in Baazigar (1993)
The forgetful Babulal added a few laughs to the otherwise intense movie. One of the most epic scenes saw him taking an important message to Kajol about her sister’s death. However, by the time he does the needful, the message is turned upside down and makes no sense.
Chachi
Kamal Haasan in Chachi 420 (1997)
In this remake of Mrs Doubtfire, Kamal Haasan dressed up as a nine-yard sari wearing Laxmi Godbole to spend time with his estranged family. Both his father-in-law (Amrish Puri) and landlord (Paresh Rawal) fall for Laxmi and do their best to impress her. While the two fall for her, Amrish Puri’s employee Om Puri keeps trailing Laxmi, as he is suspicious of her.
Anju-Manju
Sridevi in Chaalbaaz (1989)
There’s no doubt that very few actresses could match Sridevi’s comic timing. With Chaalbaaz, she set standards even higher. One of her best scenes is the one where she cringes at the sight of alcohol and sweetly declares to Rajinikanth, ‘Main madira nahi peeti, jee’.
Baburao
Paresh Rawal in Hera Pheri (2000)
While Paresh Rawal has been seen in many comic characters over the years, Baburao from Hera Pheri is definitely his most remembered role. His character rents out his home to two paying guests — Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty — and is caught in a weird web of cross-connections due to his phone number being listed wrongly in the directory. He played the harrowed man who dreams of owning a tankful of alcohol to the hilt. Dialogues like “Yeh Baburao ka style hai.” have become iconic and are remembered even now.
Ninja Chacha
Razzak Khan in Hello Brother (1999)
The kung-fu fighting Ninja Chacha was much loved for his crazy antics. Though Hello Brother failed miserably at the box-office, the late actor’s character was liked so much that he was known for it way after the movie’s release.
Kantaben
Sulbha Arya in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
While Kantaben is blatantly homophobic, she made for a great comic character in Kal Ho Naa Ho. The actress had been seen in many supporting roles before this movie, and this definitely was one of her most memorable roles. In the movie, she went through several fainting spells on seeing Saif Ali Khan’s bromance with Shah Rukh Khan. Her troubled expressions had the audience laughing out loud throughout the film.
Circuit
Arshad Warsi in Munnabhai MBBS (2003)
Though the film was named after Munnabhai, it wouldn’t be half as funny without the street smart Circuit. The actor displayed brilliant comic timing as the enthusiastic sidekick, who was ready to do anything even get a “body” for his friend’s education at a medical college.
Chatur Ramalingam
Omi Vaidya in 3 Idiots (2009)
Chatur Ramalingam was the ultimate by-the-book bookish bookworm. Remember how he found (chamatkaar)-and-replaced (balatkaar) speech had us all rolling in the aisles guffawing? And how even the thought of it still does? The movie hinges on how he avenged that humiliation years later. Om shone in the role, but latter roles did no justice to his talent.
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