Amid dark times, we look for a reprieve in cinema or books.

The last two years, however, have produced few mood lifters as both the film industry and OTT platforms seem partial towards dark thrillers, murder mysteries, social dramas or biopics.

Where has the time gone when Bollywood films can perk you up with its content? I guess it is all in the past. Hence, I chose to watch Angoor, a 1982 comedy that has been tagged as a cult classic and arguably one of the finest and cleanest Bollywood comedies.

Inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, Angoor was directed by Gulzar, who shone so bright as a poet and a lyricist, that many forgot that he was the driving force behind some of the greatest Bollywood films (Ijaazat, Maachis, Aandhi, Mausam). If you haven’t watched Angoor, the film’s logline is pretty simple, and a popular trope in Hindi cinema now: twins are separated at birth which leads to hilarious consequences later. Only, in Angoor’s case, there are two sets of twins who are separated during a sea voyage. They grow up with different parents, and one fine day, end up together in the same city, leading to confusion about their identities not just for the onlookers but also for their spouses.

Watching it in 2022, you might expect the film to have hysterical one-liners and punchlines that can be turned into memes. But, Angoor, that released four decades ago, finds most of its laughter in the unsaid words of its lead character, Ashok, played by a talented Sanjeev Kumar. He cracks you up with a straight face, and you wonder, ‘how could someone say that without flexing a muscle?’ Complementing him is actor Deven Verma, who plays his servant Bahadur. The moment he is on the screen, you smile at his innocence. In the scenes where Kumar and Verma come together, the screen sparkle with their camaraderie. The film is further bolstered with a supporting cast that includes bonafide scene-stealers like Deepti Naval, Aruna Irani, and Moushumi Chatterjee.