Comedy: On the razor's edge

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">At the outset, I must clarify that I''m not a film historian. My views are more or less off the cuff. There seems to be a perception that comedy has deteriorated from what it was in the Johny Walker era. That''s too simplistic a thesis. There''ve been ups and downs, but there have always been marvellous comic actors and excellent comedies.<br /><br />Let''s talk about Johny Walker, one of my favourite comedians.Whenever one went to watch a film with him in it, whatever its quality, one could rest assured that there was something for the viewer. He had a great combination of style and body language, yet he was always understated. Despite having the same mannerisms through his career — much like Om Prakash, another great actor — he never got stale. And he could go beyond comedy with consummate ease — recall the scene in Anand where he breaks down. <br /><br />Hindi cinema has had many brilliant second-rung actors: Asrani, Om Prakash, Kanhaiyalal, Keshto Mukherjee, Mehmood and Agha whose spontaneity and intuitive understanding of humour was something else. Among comediennes, Shubha Khote and Leela Mishra were very good. So was Tuntun. Unfortunately, her corpulence was often made the comedy element, though there was much more to her. Look how funny she was in Mr & Mrs 55. <br /><br />There were lead actors too who were great at comedy: Kishore Kumar, Madhubala, Nutan, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra. Unexpected ones too like Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar. Can you imagine Meena Kumari with her lachrymose image, doing comedy? I''m sure no one can, but she was wonderful in Kohinoor. Many lead players have a flair for comedy, but their potential is never tapped. They also have to be ready to appear ridiculous. Dharmendra was always willing to do this. He was brilliant in films like Chupke Chupke — more comedies should have been made with him. <br /><br />Comedy is not an easy art. It has to work, and sometimes it can backfire. For instance, Chaplin had shot an eight-minute opening sequence for Citylights which didn''t work, so he had to scrap it. <br /><br />With acting, too, it''s not easy — you have to be spontaneous, improvise, master the fine art of walking on the razor''s edge. If you''re doing burlesque comedy, for instance, you''re in danger of toppling over and appearing ridiculous if you can''t walk that tightrope. <br /><br />As far as Hindi films go, we''ve had comedy tracks that ran parallel with the main story in the ‘50s and ‘60s. This probably comes from folk theatre and literature where hasya rasa and the vidushak are an integral part of the proceedings. Even as early as Kalidasa''s Mricchakatikam, the villain is a comic character. <br /><br />In the ‘70s, comedy faded out for a while probably because of Amitabh Bachchan and his angst-laden films. In the ‘80s, it made a comeback in a more raunchy avatar. One of the reasons could be rampant video piracy — the middle class was staying home and watching movies on video, so films started catering to the front-benchers. A lot of the Kader Khan-Shakti Kapoor naada comedies were made then. But remember, these films were remakes of South Indian movies which have a lot of ribald comedy. <br /><br />Actually one can''t target actors like Shakti Kapoor. Films are made and actors act in them, that''s all. Every art reflects society: at that time there were Shakti Kapoors in politics, in journalism, and everywhere else. Let''s not be snooty about this. <br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">(The director spoke to Radha Rajadhyaksha)</span></div> </div>