Celina Jaitley, Lara Dutta and Esha Deol in No Entry

(Top) John Abraham and Akshay Kumar in the forthcoming Garam Masala; (below) Ishaa Koppikar, Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh and Neha Dhupia in Kya Kool Hai Hum

When Anil Kapoor said his brother Boney would be able to clear off all his debts with just one movie, he knew what he was talking about. With better collections than newer releases, the Boney-produced multistarrer No Entry is on its way to becoming one of the biggest blockbusters of the year and it?s raking in the moolah in the overseas markets, too.

No Entry is the latest addition to a string of big Bollywood hits that has made 2005 one of the better years for the film industry which has largely been an extended flop show in the preceding years. While many feel it?s just law of averages catching up with tinsel town, trade pundits are attributing the success to the multiplex crowd?s growing affinity towards light, frothy and funny fare.

?Comedy is definitely the flavour of the season,? asserts director Sangeeth Sivan, whose Kya Kool Hai Hum started the trend earlier this year. ?With so many thrillers, a spate of sex films and action movies around, people have found respite in comedies. They just want to be entertained but that entertainment should not be mentally stimulating. Also, humour is liked by the entire family.?

With families flocking to halls to enjoy a few laughs together, the block bookings have translated into big successes in little time. This is after the films have opened to a packed first weekend thanks to the stars sizzling in the cast and out of the posters. Says No Entry director Anees Bazmee, who has written most of David Dhawan?s hit comedies: ?Treatment is the most important factor when you are making a comedy. A scene can be funny if handled properly but the same can turn out to be flat if you consider other things like giving equal footage to stars.?

Bazmee?s No Entry is also part of the comic sub-genre that was born in Bollywood with Indra Kumar?s Masti ? straying husbands cheating on wives and finally realising the value of the institution of marriage. Dhawan?s forthcoming Diwali release Shaadi No. 1 falls in the same bracket where three husbands (again!) go fishing beyond wedlock.

Dhawan has already tasted success this year with his take on Cactus Flower, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, setting the cash registers ringing despite leading man Salman Khan?s late-night phone chats. In situations rather than plots and jokes rather than scenes, punctuated with some phoren naach-gaana, Dhawan has found his new fun formula which brought him back in the reckoning last year with Mujhse Shaadi Karoge.

Quite a contrast to this form of humour is the more subtle and sophisticated package that producer Aditya Chopra brings to his brand of comedy. Starting with the Harry Met Sally rehash Hum Tum last year, the Chopras have dished out the record-breaking con-on-the-road comedy Bunty Aur Babli in June this year, and now they have given a desi twist to Nine Months in Salaam Namaste. Up next from the Yash Raj banner is another fun ride, the Arjun Sablok-directed Neil ?N? Nikki, starring Uday Chopra and Tanisha.

Equally at ease with slapstick (Hungama and Hulchul) and situational (Hera Pheri) comedies is director Priyadarshan, who is making another laugh riot in Garam Masala, starring Akshay Kumar and John Abraham. Akshay, who?s found a fresh lease of life with his funny bone, feels that Indian audiences are finally ready to laugh at subtle humour. ?Hera Pheri was not accepted initially but received all the appreciation after a few weeks. So apart from good comedies being made, the audience taste is also getting refined,? the actor feels.

Like all Bollywood success stories, the comic recipe is also being repeated. While Hera Pheri and Awara Pagal Deewana have got their own sequels in Phir Hera Pheri and Deewane Huye Pagal, directors like Sangeeth Sivan and Indra Kumar are making comedies again. ?Can I make anything else now?? asks Sivan, who?s planning a 12-member ensemble comedy called Money Money Money for Subhash Ghai?s Mukta Arts. Indra Kumar is repeating the Kya Kool Hai Hum cast of Riteish Deshmukh and Tusshar Kapoor for his next comedy Dhamaal.

Even the master of the underworld and the badshah of horror, Ram Gopal Varma, is producing a comedy in the Antara Mali-penned Mr Ya Miss about a man?s mind trapped in a woman?s body. And if you are still not convinced that comedy is on song, Sujoy Ghosh?s latest jhankaar beat is the 21-song fun rollercoaster Home Delivery.

Keep laughing.