Here’s a line up of best Hindi comedy movies on Amazon Prime Video to lighten up your weekend. Watch this space as we regularly update it with new titles. These films were playing as of August 28, 2021.
13. Fukrey (2013)
Fukrey centres around four good-for-nothing teenagers trying to make easy money. It trails their adventures and misadventures through bizarre coincidences. Although the movie relies a bit too much on this formula, it still packs a punch. It started off a bit slow but has now become a sleeper hit with a huge cult following. And there is a lot of well-deserved worth behind it. The movie takes dreamers and puts them through ordeals that are both inspiring and hilarious.
The ensemble cast – Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Pankaj Tripathi deserve every bit of credit for the success of this film. Richa Chadha as Bholi Punjaban was brilliant. Now, how often do we get a mainstream Bollywood film with a female villain?
Watch Fukrey on Amazon Prime
12. Padosan (1968)
Padosan is the quintessential classic Bollywood romantic comedy. It features acting greats like Kishore Kumar, Saira Banu and Sunil Dutt. The movie uses the most basic of romantic tropes. It pits the underqualified lover in a battle against the perfect woman – a quest to win her heart. Padosan takes stock characters like the mousy lover, the cool mentor who easily solves problems, the tsundere girl, who eventually falls in love with the underdog, and of course, the stuck up music teacher who shines in the song, ‘Ek Chatur Naar’, with the amazing comedic musical arguments with Kishore Kumar’s Vidyapati. Brilliant comic timings along with hilarious song sequences drive the narrative.
Watch Padosan on Amazon Prime
11. Chupke Chupke (1975)
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Chupke Chupke was a star-studded affair of its time featuring actors like Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Om Prakash. The film, itself is a brilliant comedy of errors. We witness Dharmendra take on many different roles as he disguises himself, first as a watchman and then as a driver. The first one was to help a man meet his son but he did it the second time in order to fool his brother who was viewed by his newly-wed wife as an ideal figure. Comedy ensues with much confusion over identities. The protagonist not only disguises himself but to cover for himself, convinces others to assume different identities as well. The confusion that arises, thereafter is hilarious and takes the comedy to a whole new level.
Watch Chupke Chupke on Amazon Prime
10. Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya (2014)
A light, breezy entertainer you can afford several viewings of, without getting bored. Shashank Khaitan’s modern spin on the classic Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge has all the elements of a Bollywood romance. Varun Dhawan and Ali Bhatt share a warm, easy chemistry that’s visible in their performances and have you rooting for them and their love story. The entire cast brilliantly supports the film.
The debut director hits all the right notes, keeping us involved throughout. The humor is never overdone or repetitive. This is mainstream Bollywood romcom done right.
Watch Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania on Amazon Prime
9. Golmaal (1979)
Ah! The original Gol Maal. The film that spawned countless sequels, remakes and reiterations! It’s the kind of film that never gets old even with repeat viewings.
In times of superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna, came along an actor, a common man’s hero – who had already proved his mettle with films like Choti Si Baat, Chitchor – Amol Palekar, delivering yet another gem. A film that would go on to become a cult in the comedy genre. That he had beaten these very two actors to a Filmfare Award that year wasn’t as surprising as it reinstating the audiences’ belief in his talent. His collaboration with veteran Utpal Dutt took the film to another level. Dutt won the Best Actor in a Comic Role and Palekar the Best Actor Award that year.
Watch Golmaal on Amazon Prime
8. Munnabhai MBBS (2003)
Munnabhai MBBS takes up the concept of fulfilment in life and pits it against academic and societal success. The movie is an amazing satire on society today that values money over morals. Its comedy style is poignant and hard-hitting, and its often over-the-top tone lends itself to a very unique juxtaposition of the ideal and the material. Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi share great chemistry. Together, they’re like a house on fire. The comedy is often coupled with a slew of emotional scenes, which makes the payoff even more satisfying.
Watch Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. on Amazon Prime
7. 3 Idiots (2009)
3 Idiots refuses to grow stale even after repeat viewings. A timeless comedy that exudes the same freshness each time. It’s Rajkumar Hirani’s simple yet emotionally enticing stories that strike a chord with viewers. Here too, Hirani manages to regale us with his simplistic storytelling and promises oodles of laughter in a film that has us constantly rooting for its characters.
Watch 3 Idiots on Amazon Prime
6. Hera Pheri (2000)
A prime blend of physical comedy and situational humor, Hera Pheri too is a cult classic. It gave us the iconic character, Babu Bhaiya (Paresh Rawal), whose funniness goes above and beyond the limits.
Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, and Sunil Shetty share a great chemistry on screen and brilliantly perfected comic timings.
This was Priyadarshan at his hilarious best.
Watch Hera Pheri on Amazon Prime
5. Andaz Apna Apna (1994)
This cult classic starring Amir Khan and Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor is a laugh riot. It utilises both dialogues and situational comedy. The film also uses some overly eccentric characters that add a lot of colour to the film as a whole.
The iconic crime master Gogo, for example. His dialogue, “Aakhein nikalke gotiya khelunga” has such a weird ring to it. Yet, when Shakti Kapoor delivers it in his trademark comic style, it becomes infinitely funny. There is a certain charm to this film that is unavoidable and unignorable.
Watch Andaz Apna Apna on Amazon Prime
4. Shuddh Desi Romance (2013)
The film makes some bold statements about relationships and marriage. Commitment is portrayed as evil. The idea of ridiculing the the institution of marriage apparently offended the conservative moviegoer. But the film resonated with youngsters with clouded ideas of love and commitment. It didn’t preach and managed to convey urban/youngster conflicts in a fun way. Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra and Vani Kapoor were fabulous. Chopra reinvented herself with this character, in a restrained performance.
Watch Shuddh Desi Romance on Amazon Prime
3. Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015)
Another untypical Bollywood romantic comedy. Stereotypes be damned, Sharat Katariya weaves a realistic tale of love, infusing situational humour in the journey of a mismatched couple. It showcases very realistic, human characters while maintaining a humorous side to them.
The film has its emotional moments, which have been crafted masterfully but never steers from its comic roots. Striking this perfect balance is never a small feat. But the film effortlessly manages to achieve it; a synergy between the sensitive and the humorous; the emotional and the comical.
Watch Dum Laga Ke Haisha on Amazon Prime
2. Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Recounting his insecurities as a filmmaker in his biography An Unsuitable Boy, Karan Johar says, “there was a part of me that got a little afraid,” post the release of Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai. “I felt in that year, the syntax of cinema had changed… What was really, intrinsically, authentically cool was Farhan Akhtar’s depiction of urban youth, the way they dressed, spoke, the mannerisms. My sensibilities were mixed up with those of the filmmakers of yore — Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Raj Kapoor.”
Farhan Akhtar’s directorial debut explores friendship and love with a very subtle, indie sensibility. It was a generational shift in Bollywood’s style of storytelling and spoke a language that resonated with the youth. The classic romcom promises laugh-out-loud moments even in repeated viewings.
Watch Dil Chahta Hai on Amazon Prime
1. Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009)
In Bollywood, only three types of comedy genres work. Dumb slapstick like Housefull, David Dhawan movies; double meaning sex comedies like Masti, Kya Kool Hai Hum; Rohit Shetty action comedies like Golmaal, Singham etc.
Shimit Amin gave us a drama comedy too smart for its own good. Rocket Singh is the kind of film that has jokes thrown at you from all sides. It is upto the audience how many jokes they can grasp. Rocket Singh was in line with smart comedies like Dibakar Bannerjee’s Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and sadly suffered the same box office disaster.
Amin sprinkles the completely fresh storyline with his trademark detailing. Shimit’s casting is pitch perfect. Veteran actors Manish Chaudhary, Prem Chopra, Mukesh Bhatt and newbies Gauhar Khan, Amol Parashar light up each scene. Shimit yet again succeeds in extracting the best performance of his career from the leading man Ranbir Kapoor.
Watch the brilliant Puri’s (Manish Chaudhary) phone conversation with Harpreet (Ranbir) thinking him to be the MD of RocketSales Corp. Harpeet’s small cubicle surrounded by AYS boxes, close to the men’s toilet presents a drastic contrast to Puri’s spacious, comfortable office. It’s a David vs Goliath moment with the two actors in top form.
Avijit Ghosh in his book 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed sums up audience reception perfectly. “Much has been made about the maturing of audience taste in multiplexed Bollywood in the last few years. This is one film where the audience fails the test.”
Watch Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year on Amazon Prime
There we are! These were some of the best Hindi comedy movies on Amazon Prime. What did we miss? Let’s talk in the comments below.
