“I always want the audience to out-guess me, and then I double-cross them.”
These words were said by the inimitable American comedian Buster Keaton, but had it come from another comic genius in our part of the world, Malayalis would nod in unflinching agreement. Because, they have been trying to outguess Jagathy Sreekumar, a synonym for onscreen humour, for the past forty years, but have been double-crossed many times over, and thankfully so.
With Malayali youngsters, who grew up in the 80s and 90s, increasingly travelling across state borders, it had become quite common for them to get into verbal brawls with a Telugu or a Tamil as they brandish Brahmanandam or Vadivelu for their comic paramountship. These are the people who have grown up watching Jagathy at his prime and whose comic sense was shaped up in a large part by his genius.
Comedians like Adoor Bhasi and Bahadoor in the 60s and 70s had already attained high standards of comedy in films and Jagathy fitted the bill in every way to take their place. But what sets him apart from the others is the unique style he developed and perfected, marked by a generous infusion of physical comedy, absurdism and an unparalleled acrobatics of facial muscles, which never became dull or overplayed. So do his verbal flourishes and musical numbers, mostly unscripted and delivered on the spur of the moment.
The British comedy-inspired movies directed by Priyadarshan in the early 1980s played an important part in the actor’s career. In movies like Boeing Boeing, Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu and Aram +Aram= Kinnaram, Malayalam cinema saw a host of new actors brimming with talent, experience of stage and a youthful vigour to craft new ways to make people laugh. These movies with their cartoonish and slapstick set pieces were tailormade for Jagathy’s kind of humour and he tossed, toppled and tumbled his way into Malayali minds.
An apparent influence on Jagathy seems to be the Hindi comedian Mehmood Ali, who is known for his comic timing and physical comedy. But even while borrowing judiciously from Mehmood, Jagathy builds upon and customises his act. Observing the two actors in the scenes from two of their movies- Mehmood in Pyaar Kiya Jaa (1966) and Jagathy in Boeing Boeing (1985)- where they narrate (act out, rather) a story, is quite illustrative of the latter’s repertoire. If Mehmood’s rendering was more mellowed, Jagathy segues between a wide range of tones and actions spooled out in a field of resolved theatricality.
Moreover, he upped the comic ante by adding a non-sensical story that remains one of the most quoted in our popular culture.
A hiatus of three years has in no way faded away the scintillating body of work this man has essayed on silver screen for the last 40 years. Malayalees wait with bated breath for the return of the legend.