Bollywood Comedy Classics — The Funniest Hindi Films Ever Made

Bollywood comedies are the rewatch kingdom of Indian cinema. Nobody sits down to rewatch a tragedy; everybody rewatches Hera Pheri. The Hindi comedy tradition has its own grammar: ensemble casts, mistaken identities, escalating misunderstandings, and timing that only actors trained on stage and in TV sitcoms can deliver. Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri in 2000 is arguably the most quoted Hindi comedy ever made — Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty as three flatmates whose kidnapping scheme spirals out of control. Its sequel Phir Hera Pheri is nearly as good, partly because Paresh Rawal's Baburao Ganpatrao Apte is one of the greatest comic creations in the history of Indian cinema. Rajkumar Santoshi's Andaz Apna Apna from 1994 bombed on release and slowly became a cult phenomenon; it is the purest, silliest distillation of Hindi comic writing, with Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Paresh Rawal in triple-duty villain roles. Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chupke Chupke from 1975 is the respectable older sibling of Hindi comedy — Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan as PhDs pretending to be a driver and a professor. Anees Bazmee's Welcome, No Entry and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, and Priyadarshan's Hungama, Dhol and Bhagam Bhag turn the comedy-of-errors into a factory-grade machine. Rohit Shetty's Golmaal franchise (Golmaal Returns here) is a different register — louder, bigger, cartoonier — but deeply rewatchable. Jab Harry Met Sejal is the Imtiaz Ali wildcard. Housefull and Housefull 2 keep the mass-comedy tradition alive, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is the modern-era sequel that actually works. Every film is streamable free in HD on CineFlixo. If you have never seen a Bollywood comedy, Hera Pheri is non-negotiable.