Comedian Milton Berle once said, "Laughter is an instant vacation." God knows we need one when work and classes have come into our homes and there seems to be no escape. What better way to disengage from the blues and cope with the frustration than by watching some great comedy movies? Working from (and at) home can be taxing, and laughing is the perfect way to unwind. With that, I bring you a list of movies to watch that always leave me with a warm smile.
Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy was a risk launching to theatres, but a huge hit. It was made without the Hays Code's approval, dealing with taboo topics like homosexuality and impotence. The cross-dressing characters of Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis and the film's scrutiny of the male gaze challenged gender norms. And it did so humorously. The movie is self-aware, like with Marilyn Monroe's character proclaiming she isn't very bright – putting her in the dumb-blonde siren archetype while calling it out. The film is sexual, filled with innuendos, and challenges the moral codes of the time. The last line of the film itself makes it worth every rewatch.
A 1950s romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. The film is about a princess who wants to escape her confines of royalty and boredom to find some undictated excitement. She runs away from her palace and meets a journalist. They tour Rome as they fall in love. It's a fairytale escapade where both the actors are as charming as the city they explore on their Vespa. There is something loveable about Hepburn's cheerful excitement as she makes the independent decision to cut her hair or as she simply sits on some steps with a cone of gelato. The leads' funny interactions with the other characters of the city make the film a joy to watch.
The screwball comedy that set a list of romantic comedy standards to follow. Much of what are tropes now started here: from a modest and rugged wisecrack falling for a rich and spoilt heiress, to the enemies-to-lovers story. The previous film on the list, Roman Holiday, is also an example of the movies that were inspired by this one. Clarke Gable and Claudette Colbert's characters constantly bicker until they eventually fall in love. The movie is relentlessly witty and you can't help but be impressed as the characters keep trying to one-up each other. You might've seen its Hindi adaptation, Mahesh Bhatt's Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin.
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a South African movie (a lot of it is in English) that became widely popular across the world. It starts with a pilot tossing an empty glass bottle of Coca Cola out of his window, which lands in the Kalahari Desert. A bushman finds it and takes it to his tribe, which adopts the bottle as a highly useful, multipurpose instrument. An object sent from the Gods. Very soon, they realise its evils, and N!xau resolves to find the edge of the Earth and toss it over. Thus begins his journey, with ample side plots with other characters in the story. Each moment has me in splits. As N!xau interacts with the more "developed" world, he acts in rational ways that seem unexpected within the norms we know. It makes for an endlessly hilarious movie.
Toula and Ian want to get married, except Toula has a big fat Greek family that has a hard time accepting anything that is not Greek. This movie perhaps appealed to me most because I could relate the large, interconnected Greek family structure to my Indian one, and the often comedic role that the family members play in the grand affair that is a wedding. Each character in this movie has its own distinctive quirks, each more peculiar and loveable than the next. They all come together in this movie that is so entertaining and so warm.
Rob Reiner's directorial debut is a mockumentary following the journey of a rock band as it prepares for its come-back tour. The band members are ditzy, naive, and drunk on fame. They engage with matters so stupidly that we can't help but sympathise with them as we laugh. Even though they are in their decline, they perform with unshakeable resolve and optimism. The simplicity of the dialogue and plot mishaps is comedic gold.
Set in an architecture college in Delhi in the 1970s, the film shows students in their final year, preparing for their final projects. This is one of my favourite movies. It has the most natural-sounding English dialogue in an Indian movie, with Hindi and Punjabi peppered in. Written by the Man Booker Prize-winning writer Arundhati Roy (who also acts in the movie), it traces the funny and chaotic life of students as they break down, find motivation, or give up to the point that stress doesn't come in the way. It's one of the most realistic depictions of hostel-life I've come across, and it is as funny as it is smart.
Perhaps not best known for its comedy, but Mamma Mia is the most joyful film to watch. Each new person I watch it with ends up adoring the film. Set against the backdrop of ABBA songs, the movie is touching and uplifting. It is set in Greece, and the actors seem to be having such a blast playing the characters and singing and dancing, that the viewer has one too just watching them.
One of the most iconic comedies of all time, it is the first feature film of the British comedy troupe Monty Python. It's a collection of comedy sketches, each more absurd than the other, strung together by the parodied story of King Arthur. The comedic spin on stories of bravery and adventure, in the bleak conditions of the middle ages, is unabashedly silly and absolutely ridiculous.