Women are not funny!!! - Page 2

I think Juhi,Sridevi, Rani Mukerjee, Kiron Kher have good comic timing.

I think to have a bollywood Tina Fey, Amy Poehler or Kristen Wiig isnt gonna happen in the five years or so. But to kind of extrapolate that idea and have a bollywood version, we have Archana Puran Singh, Purbi Joshi and offlate Bharti- the "fat chick" who actually gets screen time ( which is kind of a huge deal for indian TV).

juhi chawla had good sense of humor , in movies also she did comedy in her evry film , parineti chopda also a funny , jolly girl who can pull a comedy role effortlessly , i found sana khaan funny in big boss , she was funniest cherectar in BB with a dumb touch in her personality 😳

Originally posted by: -SalShah4eva-

Billa ji u forgot Sania in the list 😭 😆

sanaya irani was good in comedy love her in khushi , some times she was OTT , except this overall she was funny , jolly cherectar , love her😳

Originally posted by: guess_wh0

I've decided to empower all women, by letting them pay for dinner and drinks, henceforth.

i think it's mean 😆, we can pay yaar 😛

Donno about bw but has anyone seen chandramukhi chautala in fir and dayaben in tarak mehta?

Originally posted by: tannipartner

Donno about bw but has anyone seen chandramukhi chautala in fir and dayaben in tarak mehta?

yes i saw her many times n that girl is simply awesome , talented girl 👏

Some really good thoughts and discussions going on here.

I think Bollywood has had its share of funny women. Many of our actresses have had some great comic timing. But at some level I think many were confined to what the roles dictated. Their humor was limited to timing in film. None of them seemed to take charge like the SNL ladies to define their own creativity and style of humor. I'm not sure if it was a lack of talent or just mere acceptance that Bollywood is an old boys club. Perhaps a combination of both. Women hosting shows or handing awards are also the ones who are expected to look glamorous, remain poised while the men have fun with the antics. You don't see women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ellen De Generes or Jane Lynch – where people, men and women equally, glue themselves to the TV set because these women are goddamn funny.

Archana Puran Singh does stand out as a personality. She has the comic timing and ability to draw attention. She asserts confidence and presence when she does something. She doesn't try to be dainty or fit to conformities. People make fun of her loud laughing style, but it doesn't faze her. But she's just one woman and hasn't been able to change much. I also think the patriarchy in Bollywood is stronger. When SNL ladies tried to make their mark, their coworkers were supportive. They didn't think women were funny, but once they saw what these ladies could do, they let them make their mark. On the other hand I think Bollywood has highly egotistical men. Even if they recognize a woman to have that chutzpah, they are insecure about her stealing their thunder. They want to be heroes. They don't want a woman to be iconic like Tina or Amy and threaten their icon status.

Another funny woman is Farah Khan. I think she has sharp wit. She knows Bollywood clichs and is great at making satires and parodies of them. But when she makes movies she won't make a Mean Girls or Baby Mama which is women centric, she was fixated with the King Khan. But then again, maybe she needs the big league favors to be successful. I doubt her mentors would be as supportive if she tried to be more women centric or at least equitable to women.

Looking beyond comedy – I'm bothered by the dichotomy in Bollywood between looking pretty and being talented. And barring a few path breaking films and a few path breaking actresses, the general tendency is to lean towards pretty. If you look at Hollywood – there isn't a dichotomy, you can be pretty and talented – and there is no reason why a pretty girl has to be subordinate to the hero or just show up as a pretty face. In Bollywood you aren't supposed to be good and be equitable to the hero, very few like Kajol can do that and get away with it. Talented actresses like Konkona Sen tend to get sidelined. And when someone like Vidya Balan does get popular, there are allegations about weight or not being good looking etc. That is why I think the example of Jennifer Lawrence is telling. She is not as skinny as many girls. She doesn't have rock abs and sports some cute baby fat. Some snotty folks did make fun of her – but the film community in general stood behind her because she is talented, and she is a good looking healthy sized woman. The community even defends the likes of Melissa McCarthy when they are targeted. But there seems to be no such backing in Bollywood – once the weight issue is raised – everyone just babbles their own weight philosophies and doesn't really take a stand.

And I'm babbling my random incoherent thoughts about my issues with Bollywood.