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Barring Guru, Chakde India and Shootout at Lokhandwala, 2007 belongs to comedies so far. Bheja Fry, Loins of Punjab, Dhamaal, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyya and Partner have stood their own. Arshad Warsi, Vinay Pathak, Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh and Jaaved Jaaferi have quietly made their presence felt. In fact, these actors owe their second coming to comedies.

Akshay Kumar is a classic case of an action hero turn comedy star. In Priyadarshan’s Bhool Bhulaiyya, his mere presence was enough to entertain the audience. Akki scored a hat trick this year with three hits in a row - Namastey London, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyya.

“Comedy is the most endearing genre and has 80 per cent chance to succeed. I was relegated to villain and second hero roles until Salaam Namastey happened. Dhamaal’s success has ushered me into a new phase. The film had no female lead, was all about male bonding and had clean humour,” says Jaaved Jaaferi. Jaaferi now has a long list of films lined up: Vada Pav, a comedy, Ashvin Kumar’s dark thriller Forest with Nandana Sen, Nagesh Kukunoor’s Tasveer, an Aneez Bazmi film co-starring Akshay Kumar and three films produced by Subhash Ghai.

Jaaved’s co-star in Dhamaal, Arshad Warsi, is aiming for a perfect kick in Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal alongside John Abraham. Arshad’s initial days were marked by duds. It took Rajkumar Hirani to resurrect him as Circuit in Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Arshad revelled in the windfall even as he tried not to be typecast in comedy roles. Kabul Express was an effort in this direction. Says his co-star Boman Irani, “Munna Bhai’s success helped all of us. Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi came back in a big way. What made it special was that none of us expected the film to be such a blockbuster,” says Boman Irani.

Fardeen Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Tusshar Kapoor joined the list of actors who re-invented themselves with comedy flicks. After No Entry, Fardeen tried his luck with similar movies. Tusshar Kapoor put his debacles behind him with Kyaa Kool Hai Hum and Golmaal and Riteish Deshmukh became a bankable actor after Bluffmaster, Masti, Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, Apna Sapna Money Money and Heyy Babyy. And Vinay Pathak got it right with Bheja Fry.

Trade analyst Komal Nahata agrees that comedies work. “But this doesn’t mean that these actors would have been out of work without comedies. They would have reinvented themselves in other genres. Comedies have worked in favour of actors and Amitabh Bachchan is an example. In India, cinema is the common medium of entertainment and people love watching films that reduce their stress levels,” he says.

Tusshar Kapoor feels the success of a few comedies has prompted more writers to explore the genre. “My debut film Mujhe Kucch Kehnai Hai was a runaway hit and after that there was a lull. Kyaa Kool Hai Hum and Golmaal got me back on track. Today, I can do a serious film like Shootout… and comedies. Three of my forthcoming films are comedies. In 1,2,3 I am a supari killer, a funny bhai. In Golmaal Returns I’m a mute hairstylist and in my home production tentatively titled C Company, I’m a crime reporter.” Tusshar says he’s also turned down comedies with bad scripts. “On a bad day, even comedies can’t save you. Fool and Final lost out to Shootout... Only a good script works,” he points out.

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