Listening to: Gol Maal (1979)

I always fear re-watching old favourites – what if they are not as good as I remembered? Would it not take away the residual pleasure which has lingered over the years? I had seen this film as a young woman, in a theatre in Green Park, New Delhi along with my giggling friends. We had lovely chaat and kulfi-falooda afterwards – oh how it makes me long for those days! It was with trepidation that I sat down to see a film for I did so want it to be good!

And it was more than good!

The most natural of actors, Amol Palekar, is a young man who, for the sake of finding a job, lies about himself. His weird and rather manic boss is the incomparable Utpal Dutt. His daughter, Bindiya Goswami, is Amol’s love interest. Soon one lie adds on to another and Amol not only has to be his own evil twin, he also has to acquire a mother, the wonderful Dina Pathak. Devan Varma, Shubha Khote and David are very good in their small supporting roles. How does it all end? Hrishikesh Mukherjee has made a film which provides a gamut of emotions, from smiles, giggles, guffaws to hysterical laughter. Bindiya is the only weak link in this film, otherwise its a great watch! Highly recommended.

Amol Palekar may be the ‘hero’ but it is Utpal Dutt who is the real lead of the film. When the film finished, I got up in my little living room to bow to this man who makes it all seem to easy. Utpal Dutt is  man of immense talents coming with an illustrious career as actor and playwright in Bengali theatre and film as well as forays into the Hindi film world. His contribution to Indian theatre and cinema is to be lauded. If you want to read more about his career, click here.

As the music is by R.D.Burman and lyrics by Gulzar, one can always expect a certain standard.

• Gol Maal Hai – R.D. & Sapan Chakravarthy. This very popular title track has a very nice beat and good lyrics. RD has thrown in some harmonies, making it ‘modern’. I was in awe of Amol Palekar’s lip-synching, he does such a wonderful job! The song reminded me of ‘Haal Chaal Thik Thak Hai’ from Mere Apne which has the same mood. 
• Sapne Mein Dekha Sapna  – Kishore Kumar, Amit Kumar. What fun lyrics! Made me smile.  Kishore is great in this genre of song.  Hema, Zeenat and Rekha make brief appearances adding to the fun factor.
• Aanewala Pal – Kishore Kumar. Lovely song. Beautiful lyrics. Kishore’s voice strumming the strings of my heart. These words really speak to me-

  आनेवाला पल जानेवाला है, हो सके तो इसमें जिंदगी बिता दो
  पल जो ये जानेवाला है
  and also
  थोडा सा हँसा के, थोडा सा रुला के, पल ये भी जानेवाला है
  What’s not to like?

• Ek Baat Kahoon – Lata Mangeshkar. After listening to the Lata of the 50’s and 60’s, I did not quite enjoy her voice here. The melody is quite ok but the final effect did not appeal.

To listen to the whole album, click here.

My selection for today is Kishore’s voice in Aanewala Pal.