Since the release of this movie in 1979, almost all movie buffs must have seen Golmaal more than one time and I can bet on that. Films by Hrishikesh mukherjee show that good films can be made with simple day-to-day plots and yet make a niche for themselves.
Golmaal is a comedy of errors and twin identity. The timing is the soul of the comedy and here Hrishikesh mukherjee didn’t go wrong with brilliant actors like Utpal Dutt and Amol Palekar. The film has shown the mentality of the hitherto society with subtlety about youngsters through the character of Bhavani Shankar, that a youngster interested in fashion, sports and music can never be focused and committed to his work. And how beautifully moustache is used as a symbol of that dogma. Utpal Dutt’s dialogue delivery is tickling yet very graceful. His voice modulation makes you laugh even if you ignore the dialogues.
Amol Palekar does not have the Mumbaiyaa hero look and looks more like the boy next door. This makes him venerable as every viewer somehow identifies with him. How often the employees lie to their bosses to watch matches and how they come up with silly excuses to cover up their goof-ups. His acting is subdued as Ram Prasad where as he is loud and out spoken as Laxman Prasad, this shows the stark difference between the two characters and Palekar has done it with aplomb.
Dina Pathak as Mrs.Srivastav is just fabulous and her comic timing is at par with other actors. Her entry through the kitchen window is hilarious. Bindiya Goswami has also done a good job. Ram Prasad’s friends compliment his character and make it more real.
Music of this film is really good and so are the https://lyrics. R.D. Burman has given a memorable song “aane wala pal...”. Gulzar is a magician of words. In a recent interview he said that he is the best trash writer in India but his songs contradict his statement. He plays with words and yet comes up with a lot of sense. In the song “sapne me dekha sapna” he has in a very light-heartedly fashion portrayed the dreams of youngsters who want to see themselves as heroes and be eye-candy for pretty girls. Similarly the title track sums up the entire story of the film.
Technically, the film is good. Being an editor himself Hrishikesh Mukherjee knew what shots he wanted. He has used a lot of close ups and mid shots and has used wide shots as transitional shots. Also he has not experimented much with camera movement given the fact that he was not very good at it and apart from the songs and the climax, he has not tampered with it. His characterization is so detailed that each character looks real. The situation creates humor and is not forced unlike contemporary comedies where double meaning dialogues and loud characters force you to laugh at their effortful stupidities.