Divine Comedy

I have not seen a single movie in the past week and am beginning to feel the withdrawals coming on. The plan was to watch 'Get Smart', because Steve Carrell just sounds like the perfect antidote to the week gone by, seeing just how amazingly well and with utter excellence he sells stupidity… I don’t even think Mr. Bean is just as good.

Maybe that other guy in the Ballad of Ricky Bobby movie comes close… What’s his name???... So many of the movies he’s been in seem to have the name of his character as a part of the movie title that I can never remember his real name… Ron Burgundy… Bewitched guy… Oh man, forget it… I know who else was in Talladega Nights - John C. Reilly (so good in Chicago and many others as the ever-loving nice guy that no one wants to bother with) and Sasha Baron Cohen (love his French accent and his complete irreverence… so Hollywood-esque Fraaiinncchhh!!!). Cohen (popularly known as Ali G from the world famous TV show Ali G) is totally on my ‘I want to meet list’ only ’cos of this movie. In case you’re wondering, he’s also Borat (from the world famous movie Borat). I didn’t really wanna meet him after Borat though… GROSS! Funny in the beginning, but increased show of male body parts too hard to stomach… Especially those of his partner-in-crime. OK, going to stop talking about this now because the nausea is rising.

Anyways, I think Steve Carrell is better than ‘him’. I still can’t remember 'his' name and I seem to have listed a bunch of other comedians in the bargain. I actually sort of liked Carrell in ‘Dan in Real Life’ and the movie too as a result - simple, sweet and charming. It was also cheesy and quite typical in parts, but the presence of the ‘Master of Stupidity’ just sort of makes you say, “Oh hell, the cheesiness and all is a given, let’s enjoy it for what it’s worth”. And I did! Even Juliette Binoche didn’t steal the show from him in this one!

I don’t know too many people in Bollywood who match up to my expected humour levels because inadvertently there is slapping, loud noises coming from people’s mouths (often mistaken for dialogue) and/or weird outfits involved. I can see ‘Jab We Met’ a hundred times because it’s so damn funny, but in the end, it’s a love story. The loovvvvee and the cutenessss and the references to Punjabi mundas and kudis ruling all may not override the humour, but the latter is not the focus of the film. It’s a great movie, of course, and the dialogue writer is heaven-sent because rarely do you come across a Hindi movie where you feel like the cast and characters are employing the use of words that regular people use. ‘Main tujhe jeene nahin doongi’ is definitely not my choice of words for a lousy boyfriend who has just dumped me. I might just say ‘teri maa ki’ though… :P

There is one iconic person in my head who took comedy in Hindi films to a new high. Hrishikesh Mukherjee made some amazing comedies in his time and while I may not have seen all of them, I can vouch for the man being a class apart. I was recently watching ‘Chupke Chupke’ on TV (for the 1017th time) and never have I loved watching Dharmendra so much! I thoroughly enjoyed his attempts to stump his brother-in-law and his lamenting the irregularities of the English language (which even the French would be happy to endorse)…

And Jaya Bachchan with her quirky expressions and her love of Botany… And Amitabh Bachchan’s absolute confusion as he tries to choose between his best-friend-and-almost-brother and his newly found affections for the Botany-lover Jaya… Who in turn, not knowing that he’s a pretend-Botany professor and his true calling lies in the world of Shakespeare and Julius Caesar thinks he’s a married man hitting on her… And the hilarious ‘all that glitters is not gold’ tirade that is an explanation for all Botany related questions fired by Jaya to AB such as ‘Why is the corolla a modified stem and not a modified root?’… Or was it vice versa?… I don’t know anything about Botany so I can’t guarantee the accuracy of the dialogue, but you get the drift, right?

FYI, the guy did not make blockbusters, or family sagas where women washed away their home made mascara with the glycerine they pretended were tears. He made films that had a certain 'quality'. I'm afraid to use the phrase 'je ne sais pas quoi' for fear of the fact that his films may sound more 'hmmmn' than 'aaaahh'.

Watch 'Chupke Chupke' if you have not already. It’s funny and no one slaps anyone in an attempt to induce cheap humour. The beauty of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s movies is that they are rooted in that funny thing called ‘life’ and take off from a real place. They’re usually situational, with misunderstandings and human error forming a basis of the storyline’s progression. They may not hit you like a gust of wind and knock you out, but I can guarantee a pleasant breeze on a cool spring day, enjoying the feel of grass under your feet, a warm (not hot) sun semi-blocked by clouds, a mind that is in a state of relaxed comfort and heart that is free to enjoy it all.

I got it! Will Ferrell! I got it! But now I’m in Hrishikesh Mukherjee mode… so OTT is out, and real life humour is back in the house!