The Laughing Club of India

The Laughing Club of India

2001 · 35 min · ★ 8.5 · Documentary

Portrait of the first laughing club in India, its founding by a doctor who believes that laughter is the best medicine, his outreach to schools, interviews with club members, scenes of outdoor sessions, and shots of billboards and street scenes in contemporary Mumbai. Club members gather, stretch, and start to laugh. Founder Dr. Madan Kararia talks of the club's history and the growth of laughing clubs across the country. Among those interviewed, there's a stockbroker, three bawdy women, a musician, a widow laughing to cope with grief, and two old men - friends since school days who meet daily to laugh. No form, no fuss: happiness equals health.

Directed by Mira Nair

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Make it a double feature

2h 29m together

The Laughing Club of India

Monsoon Wedding

Both from Mira Nair.

More from Mira NairSee all →

Salaam Bombay!

Salaam Bombay! · 1988

MovieCrimeDrama

When a revengeful Krishna destroys his brother's motorbike, his mother asks him to return home only when he earns INR 500 to repair it. In a turn of events, he finds himself in a Bombay slum.

Queen of Katwe

Queen of Katwe · 2016

A young girl overcomes her disadvantaged upbringing in the slums of Uganda to become a Chess master.

11’09”01—September 11: India

11’09”01—September 11: India · 2002

11’09”01—September 11: India

It is September 11, 2001, and a young man goes missing in New York. Because of his eastern name and his Islamic religion, he is suspected of being involved in the World Trade Center attack. The FBI inquire about him. The neighbors of his family show their disapproval. His family hold out hope that he will be found and exonerated. (Originally appeared as a segment of the omnibus film 11’09”01—September 11, but later presented as a separate short film.)

The Namesake

The Namesake · 2007

The American-born son of Indian immigrants strives to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers despite his family's unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways.

Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding · 2001

Monsoon Wedding

MovieComedyDrama

A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.

National Treasure: Edge of History

National Treasure: Edge of History · 2022

National Treasure: Edge of History

SeriesAction & Adventure

While searching for history's greatest treasure, Jess Valenzuela unburies her family's secret past.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The Reluctant Fundamentalist · 2013

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

In New York, a Pakistani native finds that his American Dream has collapsed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

India Cabaret

India Cabaret · 1985

MovieDocumentary

An exploration of the 'respectable' and 'immoral' stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of two striptease dancers in a Bombay cabaret.

September 11

September 11 · 2002

Eleven directors from eleven countries each contribute an eleven-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what's happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they've spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son's death. Tones vary, as do the locales. Most concern coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.

Mississippi Masala

Mississippi Masala · 1991

Mississippi Masala

MovieDramaRomance

Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their Uganda home, twentysomething Mina finds herself co-operating a motel in the faraway land of Mississippi. Her passionate romance with charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius challenges the prejudices of their conservative families and exposes the rifts between the region's Indian and African-American communities.

So Far from India

So Far from India · 1983

So Far from India

MovieDocumentary

Two years after his arranged marriage and emigration to the United States, a young husband returns to India to reunite with his wife, meet his infant son, and visit his family and in-laws before going back to New York City.

The Perez Family

The Perez Family · 1995

The Perez Family

MovieComedyDrama

In the midst of the Mariel boat lift -- a hurried exodus of refugees from Cuba going to America -- an immigration clerk accidentally presumes that dissident Juan Raul Perez and Dorita Evita Perez are married. United by their last name and a mutual resolve to emigrate, Dorita and Juan agree to play along. But it gets complicated when the two begin falling for each other just as Juan reunites with his wife, Carmela, whom he hasn't seen in decades.

Hysterical Blindness

Hysterical Blindness · 2002

Hysterical Blindness

MovieDramaTV Movie

Two friends lament their unhappy single lives while searching for Mr. Right in 1980s New Jersey.

A Suitable Boy

A Suitable Boy · 2020

Modernity confronts tradition in 1950s post-Partition India as a young woman resists an arranged marriage in favour of pursuit of love and a politician's son becomes involved in a transgressive affair.

New York, I Love You

New York, I Love You · 2008

New York, I Love You

MovieComedyDrama

New York, I Love You delves into the intimate lives of New Yorkers as they grapple with, delight in and search for love. Journey from the Diamond District in the heart of Manhattan, through Chinatown and the Upper East Side, towards the Village, into Tribeca, and Brooklyn as lovers of all ages try to find romance in the Big Apple.

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair · 2004

MovieDramaRomance

In early 19th century England, orphaned Becky Sharp defies her poverty-stricken background and ascends the social ladder alongside her best friend.

More Like This

Black Box Diaries

Black Box Diaries · 2024

Black Box Diaries

MovieDocumentary

Journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country's outdated judicial and societal systems.

Fed Up

MovieDocumentary

Fed Up blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to mislead and confuse the American public, resulting in one of the largest health epidemics in history.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter