Be it comedy movies or cartoon shows or comedy tv serials, 90s and early 2000s were the golden periods of clean humour. While today’s comedy movies and shows (like the Comedy Nights with Kapil, The Kapil Sharma Show etc.) function on the problematic & regressive themes under the disguise of humour, the era of 90s and early 2000s was completely different. Unlike today, the shows and movies of that era didn’t rely on sexist or regressive jokes.
As we have already compiled a list of the best Hindi comedy movies of 90s, here is the list of our favourite comedy shows from the glory days that are timeless and insanely hilarious:
1. Dekh Bhai Dekh
Dekh Bhai Dekh was one of the most popular comedy shows on Indian television. Every character of the Diwan family was unique, and made us fall in love with them! From Shekhar Suman to Sushma Seth, every character was insanely funny!
2. Tu Tu Main Main
Much before Ekta Kapoor came up with twisted saas-bahu relationships, Reema Lagoo and Supriya Pilgaonkar gave us a hilarious take on the regular banter between a saas and her bahu. This light-hearted comedy captured these mischievous women brilliantly!
3. Flop Show
The satire in Jaspal Bhatti’s flop show is still relevant three decades later. The show revolved around day to day problems of the common man in satirical ways. It was impossible to watch this commentary without a laugh!
4. Zabaan Sambhalke
Starring Pankaj Kapoor, Zabaan Sambhalke was a Hindi remake of the British sitcom Mind Your Language. The show was based on the hilarious Hindi classes for adults belonging to diverse cultures. Pankaj Kapoor, an engineer-turned-Hindi-teacher, made many of us laugh with his hilarious comeback for every odd question that his multi-lingual students threw at him.
5. Shrimaan Shrimati
With power-packed performances of Reema Lagoo, Jatin Kanakia, Rakesh Bedi, and Archana Puran Singh, this show was immensely loved and adored by the audience.
6. Hum Paanch
A middle-class family with members who love taking digs at each other, so much so that the dead talk through the picture too. Sweety’s craziness, Kajal’s bhaigiri and Anand Mathur’s constant struggle to keep up with the chaos – all these made Hum Paanch one of our most loved TV shows!
7. Philips Top Ten
Starring Pankaj Kapoor and Satish Kaushik, the show updated us with the latest and most popular songs of the season with a heavy dose of laughter.
8. Family No. 1
Very refreshing take on single parenting, this show was so much fun to watch. With a power-packed performance by Kanwaljeet and Tanvi Azmi, the show revolved around two families sharing a house. The constant fights between the kids and parents of both families cracked us up. The show also captured how these two families finally come together, which made this serial even more heart-warming.
9. Hudd Kar Di
Starring Dara Singh, Rita Bhaduri, Swapnil Joshi, Mahesh Thakur and Shilpa Tulaskar, this show captured the hilarious chaos in the family as the elders move from the village to the city. This show showcased the emotional technicalities and challenges that come their way, with a witty twist.
10. Shrimati Sharma Na Kehti Thi
Along the lines of Philips Top Ten, this show also combined comedy and music together. The show revolved around the life of Mrs Sharma, who was about all things Bollywood. Do you remember the unique thing about this show? The show had just one character – Mrs Sharma – with a face, the rest of characters were just voices.
11. Dam Dama Dam
Inspired by ‘Comedy of Errors’, this show had Shekhar Suman and Laxmikant Berde play double roles for a few episodes. Eventually, there were four of them, after their respective sons were born. What ensues post this is a hilarious riot!
12. Filmi Chakkar
Much before Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, we saw Satish Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah as a Bollywood obsessed couple in Filmi Chakkar. The show revolved around a family, who was totally obsessed with Bollywood.
13. Office Office
Mussaddilal has to deal with the lethargy of government officials in different departments to get small things done. The show highlighted the problems with the officials in the public sector while tickling our funny bones.
14. Ji Mantriji
Ji MantriJi was an adaptation of the British satirical sitcom – Yes Minister. The show starred Farooq Sheikh as Minister of Administrative Affairs Surya Prakash Singh and Jayant Kripalani as the department’s secretary. The show was not only intelligent but it was uproariously hilarious too.
15. Hasna Mat
The king of comedy Kader Khan made us laugh our hearts out in this show. It was Khan’s first-ever television appearance and indeed the best one. He assumed a new character in every episode of the show and would leave us in splits with his comedy!
Sorry Kapil Sharma, you can never match up to the awesome level of comedy we have grown up watching!