Some days ago, Rita had come home for the evening and we were wondering if we should watch a film and we had decided to see Golmaal (1979) again. Finally, we didn’t see the film but I would have had no problem in watching Golmaal for the umpteenth time.
The 70’s and 80’s were of course the Amitabh Bachchan era…and he did make a number of good films – especially in the 70’s. In fact, I would say that some of his not so well known films- at least today are actually his better films – Benaam, Majboor, Faraar, Zameer. But I am not sure they have as much repeat value as a film like Golmaal does…and indeed many other Amol Palekar films have. And while Amitabh routinely played the angry young man, many of Amol Palekar’s films had him playing what I can only call the common man. But these films were anything but common.
Golmaal is a classic…there are so many moments in that film that it is difficult to point out one. But the one that sticks in my mind is the scene where “Lucky” goes to Utpal Dutt’s house for the first time and calls him “Maali”. The way Amol Palekar plays that scene is really good. And ditto for Utpal Dutt. In fact, to be honest, a lot of Golmaal’s effectiveness is down to Utpal Dutt’s brilliance.
Amol Palekar has a number of good films without Utpal Dutt (Choti si Baat, Chitchor, Baaton Baaton mein, Khamosh – this last a phenomenal murder mystery with brilliant performances by Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi) but his outstanding ones are those where Utpal Dutt has a major role – Golmaal, Naram Garam, and Rang Birangi. And each one can be watched a million times.
Naram Garam has to be one of Shatrughan Sinha’s finest roles and I wonder why his comic talent was not used more often. And the “Ram Leela” scene is the most memorable scene from this film. Also, the song “teri chachi bulldozer aane wali hai” was an excellent song. But as usual, Utpal Dutt is brilliant.
The plot idea of Naram Garam was fairly absurd (in having multiple men falling in love with Swarup Sampat and then appealing to a higher authority just to keep the house which she is forcibly occupying). To be fair, even the plot of Golmaal was also a bit strange but the most OTT has to be Rang Birangi. The idea of a guy suggesting to his friend that he try out what Sanjeev Kumar tried out in Pati Patni aur woh leads to some of the most hilarious scenes possible- where Amol Palekar ends up romancing both his wife (Parveen Babi – this is, in my opinion, her best role) and his secretary (Deepti Naval) after telling the secretary that his wife was terminally ill. Two things stand out for me in this film - one, the last dialogue of the film – “B.R. Chopra ko pakad kar lao”. But what I remember this film most for is the character Dhurandar Bhatavdekar – which has to be the most terrifying name of any character in Hindi films. The character was played (again brilliantly) by Utpal Dutt (with a trademark IIIISSHHHH) and was impersonated by Farooque Sheikh.
Which brings us to another actor who has some highly memorable films which are quite timeless – Farooque Sheikh. And just as Amol Palekar had Utpal Dutt with him in his most memorable films, a number of Farooque Sheikh films had Deepti Naval in them (though, again some of the best also had Utpal Dutt in them such as Rang Birangi and Kisi se na kehna)
When I think of Farooque Sheikh, it all starts with Chashme Budoor. And Chashme Budoor is defined by Miss Chamko. Hyperbole is fairly easy but it is truly one of the most memorable scenes in film history. The look on Deepti Naval’s face when Farooque Sheikh tells her that the shirt is already washed is to be seen to be believed.
The other really cool Farooque Sheikh film is Katha (again with Deepti Naval plus Naseeruddin Shah). The character of Farooque Sheikh in Katha is a real hustler, and one sees such people in real life. People with no morals and no expertise but who get by merely by the gift of gab. I have come across such people at work and I am sure all of us have in life. And the film is improved by hilarious day dreaming by Naseeruddin Shah.
However, a Farooque Sheikh film which is not so well known but is equally good is one called “Kisi se na Kehna” and it has the usual suspects – Deepti Naval, Utpal Dutt and, for extra measure Saeed Jaffrey. The story is of guy who falls in love with a doctor only to realize that his father has got fed up with “modern” girls. So he has decided that his son will either marry a village girl who does not know English and knows the scriptures very well or he would disinherit him. Since the father has a heart problem the doctor decides to act as a village belle and they get married…but eventually the father finds out and the story goes to its eventual end.
The film has a couple of great scenes – one is Saeed Jaffrey and Utpal Dutt going to Deepti Naval’s village to test her knowledge of the Mahabharat. Utpal Dutt thinks he is asking her questions but actually it is Saeed Jaffrey, hijacking him and instead asking the questions – questions which he has already coached Deepti Naval on.
But even better is the scene where Farooque Sheikh proposes to Deepti Naval. The lead up is as follows – Farooque Sheikh tells Saeed Jaffrey that he is love with Deepti Naval and on being asked whether she loves him says that he doesn’t know and asks Saeed Jaffrey how to find out. Saeed Jaffrey’s advice is to get her in a beautiful setting (described beautifully in the film – sham ka waqt hai, suraj dhal rahai hai, hawa dheere chal rahi hai, khule dareechon se taaza gulab ki mahek aa rahi hai…etc) and then clasp her to his side. If she slaps him it’s all over but if she asks him to leave her without trying to get free then it’s a green signal (strong shades of P.G Wodehouse here)
So, off he goes to meet Deepti Naval at her house very tentatively and on seeing her he funks it completely and instead describes the scene to her asking her to assume that he clasped her to his side and then asks for her reaction – would she slap him or ask him to leave her. She replies – “what if I do neither?” Farooque Sheikh gets all hot under the collar because this is out of the syllabus so he says “dekhiye, aisa ghazab mat kijiye, ye meri zindagi ka savaal hai…aap chahen to beshaq thappad mar lijiye… lekin inhi dono me se ek cheez chuniye”. Deepti Naval replies “agar main vahin chup chap baithi rahoon” By now Farooque Sheikh is completely confused and decides to go off to check with Saeed Jaffrey what that means - when suddenly the light dawns on him…
I realize this doesn’t sound so funny in description but it is lovely to watch.
As indeed are all these films –they don’t often get discussed as landmark films or major films or important ones when one discusses Hindi films but they are among the finest of the 70’s and the 80’s. And the best part is that they are all on you tube - go check them out some time…and re discover a different magic of cinema!
