Golmaal:A Masterpiece

Some of the best movies to come out of the Hindi movie industry are comedies. It was a practically unknown genre in the 50's and 60's where comedy was probably part of the movie, rather than being the core of the movie. Hence we had some great comedians like Johnny Walker, Bhagwan etc., whose role was to provide lighter moments in otherwise dull emotional dramas. There were exceptions though, in the form of Kishore Kumar movies, like Chalti ka naam Gaadi, but, that was once in a while.

Later, the industry realised that comedy was heavily saleable. So full time comedies made an entry. I can't really recollect which was the first full blown haasya chal chitra... but there are quite a few: Golmaal, Chupke Chupke, Bhooth Bangla, and lots others.

Among the comedy movies, Golmaal stands out as one of the most amazingly funny movies ever seen. Simply put,its hilarious. Amol Palekar(Ram Prasad Sharma) is a happy-go-lucky and intelligent chap who, for getting a good job, has to shed his natural attitude and become a serious person. All this to impress his boss, Utpal Dutt(Bhavani Shankar). When Utpal Dutt sights him at a hockey stadium, Palekar has to manufacture a non-existent judvaa bhai(Laxman Prasad Sharma alias Lucky) and the movie takes unexpected twists and turns as Amol Palekar, in both of his Avatars, run into Utpal Dutt. We have a fictitious mother who comes in to further complicate matters. All in all a complete comedy with some unforgettable dialogues. Sample this:

1) Utpal Dutt (UD): (taking an interview): Pele ke baare mein kuch keh sakte hain aap??
Amol Palekar (AP): Jee haan sir! Per capita income of the backward tribes of Maharashtra par unki tippani bahut prashansaneeya thi!!!!
UD: Aap kiski baat kar rahe hain??
AP: Profesor Rele Sir, Mashoor Arthashaastragn!!!
UD: Arrey.. mein Pele ki baat kar raha hoon... mashoor football player Pele! P-E-L-E Pele
AP: Haan kuch din pehle ye zaroor suna tha ki kuch hazaar paagal unke darshan ke liye Calcutta airport pahunch gaye the.....
(AP has to prove that he is a serious chap with no interest in anything else accept his education and work)

2) UD (to his daughter Bindiya Goswami(BG): Tumhaari shaadi usse nahi hogi jisse tum pyaar karti ho balki usse hogi jisse mein pyaar karta hoon.
(UD says she willmarry Lucky and no one else)

3) AP (after his interview and the sacrifices he has to make to please UD): Log tho apne pair par kulhaadi maarte hain.. maine tho kulhaadi par hi pair maar diya!!!

4) Dina Pathak(DP)(She acts as the fake mom)(to UD): Hamaare khandaan mein sab judve hain, Meri maan aur unki behan: Ganga Rani, Jamuna Raani; Mein aur meri behan:Kamla aur Vimla:aur mere behan ke bete; Ram PRasad, Laxman Prasad.
(All this crap invented on the fly without blinking an eye!!)

Usually there is a tendency of comedy movie to peter out and become dull at the end. But Hrihshikeshda had other ideas. The police station scene where Om Prakash thinks Utpal Dutt is a known sumggler(Pascal D'Souza) and later apologises him and compares ther likenesses with that of judvaa bhais was a brilliant touch.

The movie has some good songs, beginning with the title song, that sets the tone. Aanewala Pal is a master piece, a must hear!!

For all those ppl who haven't watched this movie, please do!! I promise u, u wont regret it!!


--Avi