Hindi Comedians of 2006

By: Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Laughter is the best medicine. And more is always the merrier! Just like heroes stepped into villain's shoes starting with Shahrukh Khan in Baazigar and Darr, even comedy has turned out to be an area where number of mainstream actors are letting their comic side known. This is the reason why actors like Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Tusshar Kapoor and others find a mention in the list of Top-10 actors who made us laugh this year. And yes, regulars like Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav and Johny Lever are there as always!

Riteish Deshmukh - Apna Sapna Money Money

Riteish Deshmukh's act in the drag for Apna Sapna Money Money is bound to go down as the performance of the year when it comes to making us smile and laugh! It is not an easy task to get into a woman's clothing and carry an entire film on your own shoulders but Riteish's flawless act made it look all so easy. With just some makeup and lots of adas and grace, Riteish flawlessly turned from being a cool dude to a sexy damsel who makes Anupam Kher fall in love with him/her! He refrained from coming up with an unnecessary chest thumping dhak dhak act and concentrated most on walk, facial expressions and voice. Truly the best comic act of the year!

Rajpal Yadav - Chup Chup Ke, Apna Sapna Money Money, Bhagam Bhag, Malamaal Weekly
Over the years Rajpal Yadav has proved to the most dependable of lot when it comes to making people roll over with laughter. He did the same all over again throughout the year with at least three notable performances in Chup Chup Ke, Apna Sapna Money Money and Bhagam Bhag. His mundu act as Paresh Rawal's loyal assistant in Chup Chup Ke was hilarious and kept the film on a high in the entire first half. On the other hand, second half of Apna Sapna Money Money invited Yadav to offer a lot as sat in his tabela and lived his Sarkar fantasy! His just released Bhagam Bhag may not have utilized his potential to the best but there were flashes of brilliance nonetheless.

Paresh Rawal - Malamaal Weekly, Phir Hera Pheri, Chup Chup Ke

He is good. His style is good. His performances are still being liked. But he is getting repetitive, at least when it comes to comic flicks. His biggest causality was just released Bhagam Bhag where he just had a scene or two that raised a chuckle. Thankfully year started on a brilliant note for him in the form of Malamaal Weekly where he was the star of the show and made the film do a bumper business solely on the basis of his face being plastered all over the posters. Followed next films like Phir Hera Pheri and Chup Chup Ke. While in the former he carried on his baburao act seamlessly once again, there was a surprise or two in Chup Chup Ke where he tuned his act a little differently and succeeded again. Lage raho Paresh bhai!

Akshay Kumar - Jaan-E-Mann, Bhagam Bhag

The action hero has now perfected it over the years... i.e. wearing a comic mask and making people laugh along with him. His best performances of the year were in Jaan-E-Mann and Bhagam Bhag where he played completely contrasting characters. His gawky laugh may have become a rage in the campus circles if only Jaan-E-Mann would have avoided a clash with Don. It's a pity that one of the most original comic act set on a suave and polished NASA scientist wasn't seen by many. On the other hand his now-famous-street-smart-character was put to display in Bhagam Bhag where he was terrific once again. Watch him dance to the tune of Behen Dar Gayi - Behan Dar Gayi after a near molestation attempt on Tanushree Dutta and you would know why!

Govinda - Bhagam Bhag

The man may not have made a comeback with style, but comeback he certainly has made! Whatever he was asked to do, he did. Wherever he was asked to stand, he stood. Whatever he was asked to mouth, he spoke. But then an actor can be as good as the script! Though Govinda has always been known to rise above the script, in case of Bhagam Bhag he did what the script demanded and hence wasn't the 100% Govinda as we have known him over the years. Still, there were some brilliant scenes where one could watch vintage Govinda perform which proved that Govinda at even 50% of his real self is much better than many wannabe comic actors. You live on forever, Govinda!

Ranvir Shorey - Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Mixed Doubles

Will we be seeing more of him in the coming year? Ranvir Shorey has been a known name in the television circuits but he would certainly be seen a lot more on the big screen, especially after a couple of near flawless acts he came up with in Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Mixed Doubles. After all how many contemporary urban actors would be ready to get into the skin of a character ['Nano' in PKSE] who is repulsive to take a bath for 4-5 days and takes pride in the fact that he changes his clothes once in 2-3 days? His character in Khosla Ka Ghosla was shown to be a typical Delhite and he perfected the accent and body language to the T! Commendable since Ranvir is a Bombay guy for ages!

Uday Chopra - D2

No one can plead before 'Mummy' better than him! He showed that in Dhoom and proved that the same in Dhoom 2 again. He may have been getting flak ever since his debut in Mohabbatein but fact cannot be denied that his stupid antics do make audience smile and sometimes get into peels of laughter whenever he wears his comic hat. One only wonders whether son of India's biggest film making house would be content with these one off comic performances or would aim for something bigger as an actor or probably a director over the years?

Johny Lever - 36 China Town, Phir Hera Pheri

What Rajpal Yadav is to the current decade, Johny Lever was to the 90s. A brilliant actor who had started getting films an opening on his sheer presence and was literally seen in every second release, he has been lying quite low for the last few years. Thankfully his fans had something to cheer about when vintage Johny Lever was seen in 36 China Town and Phir Hera Pheri. Well, it is difficult to imagine him missing in action when it comes to a film by director duo Abbas Mustan!

Tusshar Kapoor - Golmaal

Surprise of the year, though not many may agree but Tushhar Kapoor was one of the brightest spot in this year's comic success Golmaal. As he played a mute guy in the film, he adapted his handicap as his strength and played a chalu guy to the T. The lingo he adopted using only vowels always managed to keep you asking for more and his karate scene with Vrijesh Harjee is still the most remembered. It would be interesting to see what he is up to in 2007!

Kim Sharma - Tom, Dick&Harry

People went to watch Tom, Dick&Harry for 'jhoom jhoom' and other Reshammiya hits but came back smiling. Ok, agreed that the film was tacky and there was nothing much for the family audience due to its double entendres and suggestive moves. But for the masses, there was something to look forward to every time Kim Sharma came on the screen as a cheesy 'machiwaali'. Not sure if she would show the film to her children after a decade but gentry would love to see her cute self if a sequel to Tom, Dock&Harry ever gets made!