Gol Maal

For the 2013 film, see Gol Maal (2013 film).
Gol Maal

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Produced by N.C Sippy
Written by Rahi Masoom Raza (dialogues)
Screenplay by Sachin Bhowmick
Story by Shailesh Dey
Starring Amol Palekar
Utpal Dutt
Bindiya Goswami
Music by R.D. Burman
Cinematography Jaywant Pathare
Edited by Subhash Gupta
Release dates
  • 20 April 1979 (1979-04-20)
Country India
Language Hindi/Urdu

Gol Maal (Chaos) is a 1979 Bollywood comedy movie directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. It was produced by Mukherjee and N.C.Sippy with music by Rahul Dev Burman. The music was crafted by Burman to match the timbre of Mukherjee's perception of a subtle, complex love story involving the Indian middle class. Along with getting high accolades and praise from several critics, the film became a "Blockbuster" at the box office and gained huge popularity among the masses. Gol Maal, becoming a "Mega Hit" reached the top spot in 1979 in box office collections. It remains popular and is regarded a cult favorite among audiences and also regarded as one of the finest comedies of Indian cinema.[1]

Plot

Ramprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma (Amol Palekar) is looking for a better paying job. He and his sister Ratna (Manju Singh) have no relatives or acquaintances except Dr. Kedar (David). Dr. Kedar tells him about Bhavani Shankar's (Utpal Dutt) firm known as Urmila Traders.

Shankar is a man of traditional values: He hates youth wearing modern clothes. He is a sports fan but thinks lowly of youth knowing anything about sports. But his weirdest trait is hatred towards men without moustaches. He thinks they are characterless.

Ramprasad has a moustache. He takes care of other problems by wearing kurta and feigning ignorance about sports. Bhavani hires him immediately. Ram is a hardworking guy, so Bhavani (and Ram) have no problems. However, one day Ram takes leave by pretending that his mother (who died many years ago) has taken ill and goes to watch a hockey match. Bhavani Shankar, who attendes the match, sees him there.

The next day Bhavani summons Ramprasad to his office and asks him about the hockey match. Remembering the plot of a movie a friend of his is shooting, Ram convinces Bhavani Shankar that he had seen his "moustache-less" identical twin Lucky (alias Lakshmanprasad Dashrathprasad Sharma) at the stadium.

Bhavani Shankar buys his argument and feels bad about accusing him. He makes amends by hiring Lucky to teach his daughter Urmila (Bindiya Goswami) music. Ramprasad reluctantly shaves his moustache to become Lucky and starts to teach Urmila. He is helped by his actor friend Deven Verma (playing himself).

Urmila (aka Urmi) is the exact opposite of her father. She takes immediate liking to Lucky, while Ram is barely noticed by her. Bhavani notices this and gives Ram another job to tutor on the pretext of her exams. Meanwhile, Mrs. Srivastav (Dina Pathak), a socialite, is roped to play the part of Ram, "Lakshman" and Ratna's mother. Like Ram, she also ends up playing her own twin in front of Bhavani.

Ram tells Urmila the truth. Urmila tells him to tell the truth to Bhavani as well. Ram goes to Bhavani to tell the truth, but Bhavani sees Ram's moustache giving away. Bhavani exposes Ram but ends up thinking that Lucky murdered Ram and impersonated him to marry Urmila.

In a hilarious chase that follows, Bhavani ends up totaling a police jeep. The senior inspector (Om Prakash) mistakes him for a thug named Pascal D'Costa and is about to lock him up in the jail. Only when his inspector identifies Bhavani Shankar by his real identity is he freed. By now, a harried Bhavani has developed hatred for twins as well.

On coming home, he finds that Urmila and Lucky are married. He refuses to give them blessings, until Dr. Kedar comes to the scene and explains the situation. Bhavani becomes even more furious but, on everybody's insistence, relents. The film ends with a family photo of Mrs. Srivastav, Ratna, Urmila, Ram, Dr. Kedar, Bhavani's sister Kalindi (Shubha Khote) and Bhavani (who is shown without a moustache).

Soundtrack

  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 Me Dekha Sapna" - Kishore Kumar
  4. "Ek Baat Kahu Gar Maano Tum" - Lata Mangeshkar

Cast

Trivia

Hrishikesh Mukherjee had first selected Rekha to enact the heroine's part but felt that he would be wasting a talented actress in film where the hero was the mainstay. He replaced her with Bindya Goswami. The very next year he made Khubsoorat, with Rekha in a pivotal role.

Remakes

Year Film Language Cast Director
1981 Thillu Mullu Tamil Rajnikanth, Madhavi, Thengai Srinivasan, Sowcar Janaki K. Balachander
1988 Rasa Rahasak (රස රහසක්) Sinhala Joe Abeywickrama, Sanath Gunathilake, Sabeetha Perera, Freddie Silva Yasapalitha Nanayakkara
1990 Aasegobba Meesegobba Kannada Shivarajkumar, Ambarish, Raghavendra Rajkumar, Sudharani M. S. Rajashekar
1995 Simhavalan Menon Malayalam Jagadeesh, Madhu, Siddique, Urvashi Viji Thampi
2013 Thillu Mullu Tamil Shiva, Prakash Raj, Isha Talwar, Kovai Sarala Badri

2002 movie Chor Machaaye Shor had many scenes inspired by Gol Maal. The 2012 film Bol Bachchan is loosely based on Gol Maal.[2]

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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