Gol Maal

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Gol Maal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHrishikesh Mukherjee
Written byRahi Masoom Raza (dialogues)
Screenplay bySachin Bhowmick
Story bySailesh Dey
Produced byN. C. Sippy
StarringUtpal Dutt
Amol Palekar
Bindiya Goswami
Music byR.D. Burman
Release date
  • 20 April 1979 (1979-04-20)
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Gol Maal (transl.Messed up [or] Hanky Panky) is a 1979 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and written by Rahi Masoom Raza and Sachin Bhowmick. It was produced by N. C. Sippy, with music by R. D. Burman. The film won several awards and was praised by critics.[1]

The film was remade in Tamil as Thillu Mullu (1981), in Kannada as Aasegobba Meesegobba (1990), in Malayalam as Simhavalan Menon (1995), and in Sinhala as Rasa Rahasak.[2] The film was an inspiration for the Hindi movie Bol Bachchan (2012) which was remade in Telugu as Masala (2013).

Plot[edit]

Ramprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma, a chartered accountant and singer, lives with his sister Ratna and searches for a job after passing his exams. His uncle Kedar informs him of an opening at his acquaintance Bhavani Shankar's firm called Urmila Traders. Shankar is a man of traditional values who hates modern attire and laments that the youth spends so much time on sports. He also carries an irrational contempt for men without mustaches, whom he considers characterless. Following Kedar's advice, Sharma appears for the interview in a kurta and feigns ignorance about sports, impressing Shankar who hires him immediately. A few days later, he takes leave to watch a hockey match by lying that his mother, who is long dead, has fallen ill. Shankar, who secretly enjoys sports despite preaching against them, attends the same match and spots Sharma. When confronted the next day, Sharma lies again that it was his clean-shaven twin brother, Lakshmanprasad aka Lucky who was at the match, not him.

Bhavani Shankar buys the lie and summons Lucky to teach music to his daughter Urmila. Taking help from his friend Deven, Sharma shaves his mustache and starts living a double life as Lucky- a modern, easy-going man completely opposite to Ramprasad. Urmila immediately takes a liking to him. Sometime later, Bhavani Shankar expresses his wish to meet Sharma's mother. Sharma recruits a socialite, Kamala Srivastava to play the role of his mother. Kamala faces a similar situation when Shankar recognises her real self at a party, and she too lies that she has a twin sister, confusing the man.

Bhavani Shankar notices Urmila's fondness for Lucky, and decides to get her married to Ramprasad instead, whom he considers a better match, upsetting Urmila. Sharma eventually reveals the truth to her, and decides to drop his persona of Lucky. They tell Shankar that Lucky ran away, but Shankar notices Sharma's fake mustache and assumes that Lucky killed and impersonated Ramprasad in order to marry his daughter. He then chases the fleeing Sharma and Urmila in his car but gets arrested. When released, he finds them both married and refuses to accept it until Kedar and Deven explain the situation. In the end, everyone takes a group photograph and we see Bhavani, who has now shaved his mustache.

Cast[edit]

  • Utpal Dutt as Bhawani Shankar
  • Amol Palekar as Ramprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma / Laxmanprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma aka Lucky
  • Bindiya Goswami as Urmila Shankar Bhavani Shankar's daughter and love interest of Laxman
  • David as Doctor Kedar Mama, Bhavani Shankar's friend
  • Deven Verma as himself
  • Dina Pathak as Mrs. Kamala Srivastava, Ram and Laxman's fake mother
  • Manju Singh as Ratna
  • Shubha Khote as Kalindi aka Buaji
  • Yunus Parvez as Bade Babu, Working at Urmila traders.
  • Keshto Mukherjee as Drunkard (Guest appearance)
  • Anjan Srivastav as Police Officer Sharma (Guest Appearance)
  • Om Prakash as Police Officer (Guest Appearance)
  • Amitabh Bachchan as himself (Guest Appearance)
  • Rekha as herself (Guest Appearance)
  • Hema Malini as herself (Guest Appearance)
  • Zeenat Aman as herself (Guest Appearance)
  • Aruna Irani as herself (Guest Appearance)
  • Moolchand as Man who was in cinema hall
  • Harish Magon as Interview candidate Badri Narayan Shrivastav
  • Anand as Ram's friend Anand
  • Yasmin as Girl in song 'Sapne me dekha sapana'
  • Amol Sen as Office peon in Urmila Traders

Soundtrack[edit]

The music of the film was composed by R. D. Burman and lyrics were written by Gulzar.

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleSingerLength
1."Aanewala Pal Jane Wala Hai"Kishore Kumar 
2."Gol Maal Hai Bhai Sab Gol Maal Hai"Sapan Chakraborty, R.D.Burman 
3."Ek Din Sapne Mein Dekha Sapna"Kishore Kumar Amit Kumar 
4."Ek Baat Kahu Gar Maano Tum"Lata Mangeshkar 

Production[edit]

Hrishikesh Mukherjee had first selected Rekha to enact the heroine's part, but felt that he would be wasting a talented actress in a film where the hero was the mainstay. He replaced her with Bindiya Goswami. The whole film was shot in 40 working days.[3]

Remakes[edit]

Year Film Language Director Ref.
1981 Thillu Mullu Tamil K. Balachander [4]
1988 Rasa Rahasak Sinhala Yasapalitha Nanayakkara [5]
1990 Aasegobba Meesegobba Kannada M. S. Rajashekar [4]
1995 Simhavalan Menon Malayalam Viji Thampi [6]
2013 Thillu Mullu Tamil Badri [7]

David Dhawan's 2002 film Chor Machaaye Shor had many scenes plagiarised from Gol Maal.[8] The 2012 film Bol Bachchan, directed by Rohit Shetty is loosely based on Gol Maal. It was also later remade in Telugu as Masala. The Malayalam movie Ayalvasi Oru Daridravasi had few scenes adapted from Gol Maal. Simhavalan Menon movie is also a remake of this film

Awards[edit]

27th Filmfare Awards:

Won

Nominated

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lokapally, Vijay (20 December 2012). "Gol Maal (1979)". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  2. ^ Jha, Lata (15 October 2018). "Ten Indian films with multiple remakes". Mint. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  3. ^ Hungama, Bollywood. ""Golmaal was entirely shot in my Bandra bungalow in just 40 days" - Hrishikesh Mukherjee - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Bol Bachchan not a remake of Gol Maal". Hindustan Times. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ^ Jha, Latha (15 October 2018). "Ten Indian films with multiple remakes". Mint. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Why has Amitabh Bachchan-Dharmendra's 'Sholay' not been remade in any of the southern languages yet?". News18. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Watch 'Thillu Mullu' to be happy, it's a guarantee: Mirchi Shiva". News18. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Attack of the clones". Rediff.com. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 12 April 2018.

External links[edit]