In Bollywood, the trend of comedy is changing…changing fast! Gone are the days when you laughed your heart out watching Mahmood, Johny Walker, Asrani, Jagdeep, Kader Khan, Satish Shah and Shakti Kapoor in some of their best performances ever. But today, only a few comedians (comedians in real term of the word) left whose sense of comic relief is being tested as well. These comedians - Johny Lever, Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani and Rajpal Yadav are getting very few roles these days to evoke laughter. What's wrong? Is comedy dying out? The answer is a complete 'no' – comedy is rising instead, but not through the real comedians but through the protagonists who are giving these comedians a run for their money.

Bollywood is a place where experiment knows no boundaries. Our own actors are now venturing into the comic business thwarting this pool of comedians who have long been entertaining us with their witty, satirical comic punches, antics as well as senses. Just take for example, Shakti Kapoor – he started his career as a villain but later turned out to be a very popular comedian. It's still fresh in the minds of many a movie-buff how he acted as the 'Bhatija of Moogambo' (Gogo) in Rajkumar Sontoshi's 'Andaaz Apna Apna' and tickled everyone with dialogues like "Main Hoon Moogamboo Ka Bhatija Gogo, Khandani Chor Hoon, Ayaa Hoon Kuch to Loot Ke Jaunga, Utar Niche, Utar niche", "Ye Teja Teja Kya Hain, Ye Teja Teja" and so on. But where is this man now? The same is the case with Kader Khan and Satish Shah who rippled the comic necessity of viewers and entertained them for years.

Now, Bollywood has turned into a virtual battlefield where the role of comedians is being played by the heroes themselves. Be it Akshay Kumar or Ritesh Deshmukh, Govinda or Saif Ali Khan, Fardeen Khan or Anil Kapoor, the macho Salman Khan or Sanjay Dutt – all seem to be turning towards doing comic films. Films like 'Munnabhai M.B.B.S', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', 'No Entry', 'Welcome', 'Heyy Baby' etc. have proved that comic films can do well at the box office sans prominent comic actors. Even dark comic films like 'Bheja Fry', 'Mithya', 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' etc. have done exceptional job at the box office without any renowned comic celebrity.

Protagonist-centric comic films also saw a huge rise during the late 70s and the early 80s with versatile actors like Amol Palekar and Farooq Sheikh. Both gave some of the finest comic films of all time. Now the trend with actors leading the comic cart seems to be back again with a bang! It all started with Priyadarshan's 'Hera Pheri' (2000), which set new benchmark of records at the box office with its subtle comic presentation. That was the flick that proved that actors like Akshay Kumar and Suneil Shetty have got all the potentials of performing comic roles. However, Priyadarshan's 'Phir Hera Pheri' with the same cast could not live up to the expectations. Paresh Rawal also acted in both the movies.

The present breed of comedians who are supporting the comic bandwagon are Boman Irani, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav and the old horse Johny Lever. Albeit getting very few roles, they are still proving their mettle with flying colors. While Boman Irani captivated viewers with his comic excellence in films like 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', 'Yun Hota To Kya Hota', 'Munnabhai M.B.B.S', 'Pyare Mohan' etc. Rajpal Yadav, the tiny comic cauldron shored his best in flicks like 'Hungama', 'Dhol', 'Partner', 'Bhagam Bhag', 'Chup Chup Ke', 'Ladies Tailor', 'Malamaal Weekly', 'Kya Kool Hai Hum' etc.