Film
Pushpaka Vimana
Other titles called Pushpaka Vimana: the 2017 film.
A restless 1987 Hindi comedy about an unemployed dreamer who imprisons a drunk millionaire and steals his identity, living out fantasies of wealth and romance. Kamal Haasan carries the film with physical comedy and charm, mixing slapstick with unexpected emotional depth. It's a clever, genre-bending romp that questions what we want and who we pretend to be.
If you liked this
Andaz Apna Apna1994
Two con artists pursuing the same heiress delivers the same manic energy and class-clash comedy as Pushpaka Vimana. It's faster, funnier, and Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are magnetic together in roles built on deception and disguise.
But The humour is broad and sometimes repetitive; it assumes you'll forgive anything for a laugh. Some sequences drag.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro1983
A masterclass in comedic structure about two photographers caught in a murder mystery. Like Pushpaka Vimana, it wraps social satire and genuine danger inside jokes, building to mayhem that feels both funny and consequential.
But The print quality varies depending on where you watch it. The satire is pointed and won't land if you're not attuned to 80s Delhi politics.
Rang De Basanti2006
A young man navigating class, identity and ambition across two lives, much like Pushpaka Vimana's premise. Aamir Khan anchors themes about who we are versus who we pretend to be, with spectacular action and real emotional stakes.
But It's three hours and shifts tone sharply in the final act. The romance subplot can feel obligatory alongside the heavier themes.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Pather Panchali1955
Both films use a character's hunger for a life beyond their station to explore class, morality, and what we're willing to become. Ray asks the question seriously; Haasan's film asks it sideways through comedy. Same engine, opposite registers.
Satyajit Ray's portrait of dreams deferred and survival in poverty, where characters scheme and fantasize about better lives. It shares Pushpaka Vimana's moral ambiguity—we sympathize with theft and deception born of desperation—but in a realist key that strips away comedy to expose raw need.
But It's slow, meditative, and in Bengali with subtitles. Expecting a story, you'll find a film about waiting, watching, and the slow erosion of hope. Many find it difficult.
More like this (8)
Dil Chahta Hai2001
Three friends, lifestyle aspirations, and reinvention in exotic locations. The film shares Pushpaka Vimana's joy in watching characters dream big and stumble into adulthood, with style and self-aware humour.
But It can feel precious and self-satisfied about its own coolness. Some will find the romantic resolutions predictable.
Natrang2010
A Marathi film about a man obsessed with theatre and performance who adopts a persona that consumes him. The blend of comedy, tragedy, and questions about identity and ego mirror Pushpaka Vimana's themes more seriously.
But It's in Marathi with subtitles. It gets darker and sadder than you might expect from a film that starts as a character study.
Kalyug2005
Kamal Haasan plays a man caught between crime, wealth, and moral compromise. It's grittier than Pushpaka Vimana but explores the same question: what does a man become when he abandons his real life for money and power?
But It's serious and violent where Pushpaka Vimana is playful. Some viewers find the pacing glacial.
Coolie No. 11995
Govinda as a con artist hired to pose as a wealthy man to con an heiress. The premise is pure Pushpaka Vimana energy: deception, mistaken identity, physical comedy, and the collapsing gap between the fake life and real emotions.
But The humour is silly and sometimes juvenile. It depends almost entirely on Govinda's manic charm; if that doesn't land for you, there's no backup plan.
Khosla Ka Ghosla!2006
A middle-class family scammed by a corrupt builder decides to con him back. It's lighter than Pushpaka Vimana but shares the joy of outsiders playing a larger game and discovering themselves in the process.
But The stakes are modest compared to Pushpaka Vimana's darker edges. It's comfort-food cinema that doesn't take many risks.
Khal Nayak1993
Sanjay Dutt as a criminal and Shah Rukh Khan as an undercover cop, both adopting false identities to navigate the underworld. The film's fascination with performance and dual lives echoes Pushpaka Vimana's moral ambiguity.
But It's bloated and melodramatic. The love triangle that drives it hasn't aged well, and the film's tone whips between serious crime drama and Madhuri Dixit dance numbers.
The Poseidon Adventure1972
Both films are built on the premise of a man stealing a new life. In Pushpaka Vimana it's a con; here, necessity. Both ask whether the fake identity becomes real through living it.
A disaster film disguised as a character study, where ordinary people assume false identities to survive a capsized ship. Ernest Borgnine and Gene Hackman play men reinventing themselves under pressure. Pushpaka Vimana's playful premise becomes a literal fight for survival.
But It's a 1970s spectacle; the pacing is slow, special effects are quaint, and characters make decisions that defy logic. Patience required.
Andrei Rublev1966
Both films obsess over the gap between who we are born as and who we become. Pushpaka Vimana says it's a con; Andrei Rublev says it's a vocation. They're arguments in the same philosophical conversation about transformation and authenticity.
Andrei Tarkovsky's meditation on an icon painter finding redemption through art and suffering. Haasan's con man and Tarkovsky's artist are opposites: one builds a false self through deception, the other builds transcendence through beauty and faith. A wildcard that rewires how you think about ambition and self-creation.
But It's nearly three hours, in Russian, nearly dialogue-free, and moves at the speed of watching paint dry. You must surrender to it completely or resent it entirely.
People
Cast
Kamal HaasanUnemployed graduate
Amala AkkineniMagician's daughter
Tinnu AnandKiller
Sameer KakkarRich man
Farida JalalMagician's wife- K. S. RameshMagician
Prathap PothanLover
LoknathHotel owner- P. L. NarayanaBeggar
Directing
- Singeetham Srinivasa RaoDirector
Writing
- Singeetham Srinivasa RaoWriter
Production
- Singeetham Srinivasa RaoProducer
- Sringar NagarajProducer