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Laughter is for keeps

Ali claims that laughter will stay intact in new generation movies. Ramesh Susarla finds out more.

MAGIC OF SMILE Ali believes in winning hearts with humour

GenX movies may be fast-paced, packed with jazzy bikes, skimpily clad dames, but all that has to bow down to humour, which goes well with the audience of all seasons. Laughter became infectious at L.V.R. Club in Guntur when dozens of kids illuminated the stage with their innocent smiles. The presence of the dimpled comedian Ali was like the icing on the cake at the `New Generation Month' celebrations.

Laughter is natural. Humour is present in everything, only thing one needs to prop it up. "Tollywood probably provides the largest canvas to paint the best possible picture of hilarity, opines the 750-films-old Ali. The place is blessed with the highest number of comedians who are engaged in an intense competition to get a role. "That everyone survives with élan shows how Andhra wallas patronize humour in movies or TV shows," says a grinning Ali.

Serious business

Happy to be a comedian, Ali sees humour as a serious business. Reminding people of Charlie Chaplin who saw humour even in sorrow, he says he has found his role model in the genius. "People look forward to hilarious scenes in movies and only these small nothings bring in crores of rupees to the producers," he reminds.

"People come to watch movies to forget their woes and laugh their heart out. We take great care to see that nobody is hurt, which does not come from pedestrian acting," he says. Overdose of sloppy scenes and melodrama might keep the audience at bay. Every other soap opera on the small screen is filled with the stuff and so film-makers are wiser today employing as many variants of comedy as possible to add flesh to the storyline, he reasons out.

The actor was presented the Vocational Service Award jointly by the LVR Club and the Rotary Club.

Children dressed as freedom fighters participated in a fancy dress competition, which caught the attention of Ali. He advised their parents to initiate the youngsters into creative art forms. "God did not create me as a handsome person. But He gave me two dimples that make my job easy while trying to make people laugh," he says in a matter-of-fact way. "To be able to laugh at oneself is probably the highest level of entertainment a comedian could provide to his audience," observes Ali. The actor came along with his friends to the city in 1984-85 and visited places like Jinnah Tower, Centre Central Café (Manga Theatre) and Sankar Vilas.

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