10 best black comedy movies in Bollywood
Last updated on - Jan 12, 2018, 17:35 ISTShare fbsharetwsharepinshare
01/1110 best black comedy movies in Bollywood
The term black comedy or dark comedy have been later derived as alternatives to Breton's term. In black humor, topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo are treated in an unusually humorous or satirical manner while retaining their seriousness; the intent of black comedy, therefore, is often for the audience to experience both laughter and discomfort, sometimes simultaneously. The purpose of black comedy is to make light of serious and often taboo subject matter; some comedians use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues, thus provoking discomfort and serious thought as well as amusement in their audience. Dark or black comedy is probably the most evolved of the entire genre. The idea is to lighten heavy concepts such as crime, crisis, mortality and pretty much anything one would ideally never associate with hearty humour. So here's a list of 10 dark comedy Bollywood films.
02/11‘Ishqiya’
Another wonderful black comedy film which stars Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi in lead roles. Ishqiya starts with Krishna Verma (Vidya Balan) trying to convince her husband, Vidyadhar Verma (Adil Hussain), a local gang-lord, that he should surrender. He agrees but is soon killed in a gas explosion. Two criminals, Iftikhar aka Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Razzak Hussain aka Babban (Arshad Warsi), botch up a job and escape from the clutches of their boss, Mushtaq (Salman Shahid), who wants to bury them alive. They land up in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to seek refuge in the house of Vidyadhar Verma. Instead, they meet his widow Krishna, who gives them shelter and tries to seduce them to achieve her own secret goal. She proposes the kidnapping of Kamalkant Kakkar aka KK (Rajesh Sharma), a small businessman. The duo reluctantly agrees, since they want to escape the clutches of Mushtaq. Meanwhile, Khalujan and Babban realise that they are falling for Krishna, but they do not reveal their feelings to each other. Babban eventually seduces Krishna and both have sex. Khalujan decides to tell his feelings to Krishna but is shocked when he sees Krishna and Babban together dancing after having sex. Khalujan is angry but keeps quiet. However, when the kidnapping does not go as smoothly as wanted, Khalujan and Babban start fighting. A fantastic film worth watching once again, and if you haven’t watched the film you should definitely watch it.
03/11‘Kaalakaandi’
Saif Ali Khan’s first release of 2018. One of the best films done by Saif, the movie releases today. ‘Kaalakaandi’ braids together various narrative strands that unfold after-hours. A woman and her boyfriend (Sobhita Dhulipala and Kunaal Roy Kapur) prepare for her departure for a doctorate in the US, but not before dropping into a birthday party thrown by her friend (Shernaz Treasury) that gets raided by the Mumbai police. Also on the prowl are two gangsters (Vijay Raaz and Deepak Dobriyal) who have come up with a plan to divvy up between themselves a stash of money rather than passing it on to their boss. Neil Bhoopalam pops up in a role as a hitman that is as short as it is forgettable. The best part of the man’s adventure, on which he drags along his relative Angad (Akshay Oberoi), is his time spent with transperson Sheela (Nyari Singh). Go catch up the film soon.
04/11‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’
The movie was a dark satire on the rampant corruption in Indian politics, bureaucracy, news media and business, and stars an ensemble cast including Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Satish Shah, Satish Kaushik, Bhakti Barve and Neena Gupta. Professional photographers Vinod Chopra (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir Mishra (Ravi Baswani) open a photo studio in the prestigious Haji Ali area in Mumbai and hope to make enough money to keep it running. After a disastrous start, they are given some work by the editor of "Khabardar", a publication that exposes the scandalous lives of the rich and the famous. They accept it and start working with the editor, Shobha Sen (Bhakti Barve), on a story exposing the dealings between an unscrupulous builder, Tarneja (Pankaj Kapoor), and corrupt Municipal Commissioner D'Mello (Satish Shah). During their investigation, they find out that another builder Ahuja (Om Puri) too is involved in this dealing. Naseeruddin Shah and the late Ravi Baswani share an amazing vibe and comfortable chemistry.
05/11‘7 Khoon Maaf’
The movie was released internationally as ‘Seven Sins Forgiven’. Another brilliant black comedy film of Priyanka Chopra. The film stars Priyanka Chopra in the lead role, with Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Annu Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Vivaan Shah and Usha Uthup in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a femme fatale, Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes, an Anglo-Indian woman who murders her seven husbands in an unending quest for love. ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ is an adaptation of the short story Susanna's Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond. The seven characters played by Priyanka Chopra was amazing. Priyanka Chopra was Bhardwaj's original choice for the role of Susanna after he worked with the actress in ‘Kaminey’. He said that Chopra is the finest actor of her generation right now. As a director, I had so much trust in her that I felt that no one else can essay this role as brilliantly as she would do. Mohanlal was cast as one of Susanna's husbands in the film, however, he left the project to concentrate on Malayalam films.
06/11‘Pushpaka Vimana’
The film had a 35-week theatrical run in Bengaluru. The film has received the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Filmfare Award South for Best Film. The film follows an unnamed, almost penniless and unemployed youth (Kamal Haasan) who aspires to lead a reasonably affluent livelihood free of insecurities and humiliations he has to put up with because of his day-to-day poverty. Suddenly a lady (Amala) luck smiles upon him, when he impromtpuly takes up the identity of a rich man, stoking the desire of becoming rich in him even more. His fortunes apparently change when he stumbles upon a millionaire drunk by the roadside. He abducts and takes the millionaire in his room alongside a roof terrace in a dilapidated old building. He assumes his identity to taste the opulence and starts staying at the plush five-star hotel suite rented by the wealthy millionaire. A professional killer (Tinu Anand) hired by the closet lover of the wife of the alcoholic millionaire to hit on him with an intention of usurping his belongings, has set his eyes on the young man, having mistaken the young man for the rich man, too. The wife herself (Ramya) who is having an affair outside the wedlock is not in the loop about the murder plan. While it is not clear that the young man got the job or not, it is certain that his perception towards life has changed.
07/11‘Dev.D’
Dev played by Abhay Deol who, after spurning Paro's love due to a misunderstanding, turns to drugs and vodka for solace. Paro moves on but Dev still is in remorse. He meets Chanda played by Kalki Koechlin, a prostitute with problems of her own. Sent to a boarding school in London, for being rude and calling his parents by their first names (Sattu, Kaushalya), Chandigarh-based slacker, Dev, leaves his childhood-sweetheart, Paro, behind. Dev likes her but his penchant for self-destruction prevents him and Chanda from truly getting together. He also meets sleazy people like Chunni, Chanda's pimp who drags Dev further into self-destruction to further his own needs. Nine minutes into Dev D, you realise that the director isn't aiming at an emotional connect with the hero, but instead trying to alienate you from him entirely. Gulping down that fact with Thums Up or Coke, as you prefer helps you kick back and revel in this utterly unconventional, marvelously immodest film. Randomness happens often in our newly-experimental cinema, but it's always great to see a film where no detail is an accident, where the director gets to execute his vision exactly as he wants -- and this seems pretty darned close.
08/11‘Delhi Belly’
The film was fun but highly inappropriate for kids. It was a black comedy full of abuses, smelly jokes and scenes which could fill the movie theatre with a pungent smell. The ‘out of the world’ script was a super-hit and Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur and Vir Das were applauded for their crazy act. While the original version was in English, a Hindi dubbed version was also released. The story revolves around three roommates, journalist Tashi (Imran Khan), photographer Nitin Berry (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and cartoonist Arup (Vir Das), leading an unkempt and debt-ridden life in a shady apartment in Delhi. Tashi's ditzy fiancée, Sonia (Shenaz Treasurywala), is an air hostess who agrees to deliver a package for Vladimir Dragunsky (Kim Bodnia) to Somayajulu (Vijay Raaz), without realizing its contents or that Somayajulu is a gangster. Sonia asks Tashi to deliver the package. Tashi, in turn, asks Nitin to do so. But Nitin is unable to do so as he is suffering 'Delhi Belly'. Nitin hands Sonia's package to Arup for delivery to Somayajulu, along with a package containing his stool sample for delivery to Nitin's doctor. Arup mixes up the two bags. Somayajulu, furious, tortures Vladimir to find his package. The movie is made beautifully.
09/11‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’
The film stars Abhay Deol, Paresh Rawal, Neetu Chandra, Manu Rishi, Richa Chadda, Manjot Singh and Archana Puran Singh. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film. The film is inspired by the real-life shenanigans of Devinder Singh alias Bunty, a real-life “super-chor”, originally from Vikaspuri, Delhi. A boy from a poor, dysfunctional family from suburban West Delhi grows up to be a charismatic and fearless man who robs the elite of several major cities in India in a unique fashion, often not out of necessity, but just for fun. Arrested by Special Crime Branch Inspector Devender Singh, Lucky Singh reflects upon his life: his childhood, his father's second marriage, his siblings; his entry into crime and association with Gogi Arora; his romance with and subsequent marriage with the lovely Sonal; and his subsequent betrayal by his hanger-on and a business partner. Meanwhile, the media speculates on how he got away with stealing 140 TV sets, 212 Video cassette recorders, 475 shirts, 90 music systems, 50 jewellery boxes, 2 dogs, and a greeting card – in a spree of burglaries that included households in Bangalore, Chandigarh, Mumbai, and other cities in India. Abhay Deol’s acting was brilliant in the film.
10/11‘Being Cyrus’
The film was crisp, taut and precise, and rarely suffers from avoidable fluff. You cannot help gasping at the way it weaves a gripping tale set among a small but intriguing Parsi community. In sharp contrast to Bollywood masala films, ‘Being Cyrus’, in its 90 minutes, makes sure you remain glued to the screen and think of nothing but Cyrus (Saif Ali Khan) and how he vibes with five other colourful characters in a bizarre yet interesting gamut of repartee. The film is an intense psychological drama that shakes you to the core and leaves you thinking long after it is over. The director's expertise lies in the fact that the film's intensity never lies heavy on you. He deftly brings in some much-needed comic relief every now and then. Drifting from done-to-death ingredients like raunchy songs and extraneous fight sequences, Homi Adajania shakes the audience with his first film and raises a lot of expectations. Essentially meant for multiplex viewers, the film introduces us to a talented debutant. And a fresh style of cinema.
