Comedy is a safe bet at the box office, be it slapstick, horror, sexually loaded, or even a spoof. But dark comedy —  which makes fun of everything, be it a serious topic such as death — has evolved over time in Bollywood. Not many filmmakers dare to experiment with this “deadly” genre. After all, black comedy — like black coffee — is not for everyone. 

One such forthcoming film is director Akarsh Khurana’s Karwaan, releasing on Friday. The quirky comedy stars South star Dulquer Salman along with Irrfan Khan, Kriti Kharbanda and Mithila Palkar. 

Here are some more comedies that brought back the dead, laughing…

Karwaan (August 3): Akarsh Khurana, who has directed films such as High Jack, has helmed this quirky comedy. The story follows three individuals (South star Dulquer Salman along with Irrfan Khan, Kriti Kharbanda and Mithila Palkar) and how they connect after the lead’s father dies unexpectedly and he runs around trying to retrieve his body. With a quirky, humorous, yet warm undertone to the dialogue and interaction between characters, the film has been shot in picturesque Kerala and is described as the journey of a lifetime. 

Producer Priti Rathi Gupta of Ishka Films said Karwaan holds a special place in her heart. “The movie is a true ‘slice-of-life’ film shot in 

Kochi at a time when monsoons made everything look magical,” she said. 

The story will tickle your funny bone and drive home a message everyone can identify with, the makers promise. 

“The script has been written by Bejoy Nambiar,” Gupta said. “Ronnie (Screwvala) and RSVP came on board and loved the script just as much as I did. Irrfan has worked with such spontaneity. He is such a delight to watch and is an extremely grounded human being. Dulquer has surprised us all with his craft and his fluency in the language and is all set to take Bollywood by storm. Mithila, who is making her debut as a Bollywood lead actress, is absolutely charming. I’m very proud of the work Akarsh, along with the entire cast and crew, has done. I am certain that the audience will enjoy watching Karwaan as much as we have enjoyed making it,” she added.

Khajoor Pe Atke  (May 2018): Director Harsh Chhaya’s debut venture Khajoor Pe Atke was  another film which has humour centering around death. The film had Manoj Pahwa, Vinay Pathak, Seema Pahwa, Dolly Ahluwalia and Sanah Kapoor. 

Director Harsh Chhaya said that comedy films have hardly explored death. 

“We as Indians don’t laugh at such situations. Certain emotional situations cause funny situations. Suppose you are sitting in a cemetery when there is a buzz with a funny ring tone.... My film was not to put down anyone or any situation. I have faced the situations and seen humour in it,” Harsh said.

Sadhu Aur Shaitan (1968): Directed by the late A. Bhimsingh, this film was one of the best laugh riots on death. The film had three principal characters —Mehmood, Om Prakash and  Pran. It revolved around a kind-hearted bank employee, Sadhuram (Om Prakash). Bajrang (Mehmood) is a taxi  driver who is in love with Vidya (Bharathi). One day a dacoit called Sher Khan (Pran) enters the life of Sadhuram, claiming to be his childhood friend. Sher Khan robs the bank that Sadhuram is working in. Sadhuram kills Sher Khan in self defence while he is in Bajrang’s taxi. The laughs take off from there.

Buddha Mil Gaya (1971): Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the film is about two unemployed  youngsters  — Bhola (Deven Verma) and Ajay (Navin Nischol) — who happen to see an advertisement about a missing rich elderly gentleman called Giridharlal (Om Prakash). They find Giridharlal and bring him to their rented apartment. The old man becomes interseted in Ajay’s girlfriend Deepa (Archana). A  series of homicides follow whenever Giridharlal reaches a venue and sings a song. Bhola and Ajay face comic situations even as the needle of suspicion points at them. 
Nehle Pe Dehlla (2007): Ajay Chandok’s directorial venture is about Johnny (Sanjay Dutt) and Jimmy (Saif Ali Khan), small-time crooks who dream of becoming rich. A hotel manager, Ballu (Shakti Kapoor), embezzles Rs 30 crore from his company. Johnny and Jimmy come to know about it but Ballu is killed by gangsters. But Johnny and Jimmy keep him alive — a la Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro —  in order to take the money. A series of comic events follow. The film also stars Bipasha Basu and Kim Sharma as the duo’s girlfriends.   

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983): Directed by  Kundan Shah, this cult film remains the gold standard for deadly humour. Two professional photographers Vinod Chopra (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir Mishra (Ravi Baswani), who open a photo studio in Mumbai, inadvertently capture the murder of a municipal commissioner and discover this when the images are enlarged. They are given some work by Shobha Sen (Bhakti Barve), the editor of a publication that exposes the scandals of the rich and famous. The photographer duo come across the dealings between an unscrupulous builder Tarneja (Pankaj Kapoor), a corrupt mucommissioner D’Mello (Satish Shah) and another builder Ahuja (Om Puri). They realise that Tarneja is the murderer. What follows is a series of misadventures when they discover the dead body of  D’Mello and how everyone involved tries to retrieve it. The climax is set around a play based on the Mahabharat — one of the highlights of the film that still carried the serious risk of the viewer dying of laughter.