45 years of 'Gol Maal': Interesting facts about Amol Palekar movie that is still fresh in viewer's minds

Gol Maal released 45 years ago continues to be a cult classic from Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film starring Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, and Bindiya Goswami in important roles has received love from audiences across all generations and even today people love fondly discussing some of its iconic scenes. As Gol Maal completes 45 years of its release today, know some important facts about this flick that made Amol Palekar an overnight star.

Most of the movie was shot in the bungalow of Hrishikesh Mukherjee

The famous director completed this movie in just 40 days. The house and office of Bhavani Prasad aka Utpal Dutt shown in Gol Maal was in actuality the bungalow of the director himself. Apart from that the house of Ram Prasad Dashrath Prasad Sharma played by Amol Palekar was also a part of Mukherjee’s bungalow which is why it was easy for him to complete the shooting very fast.

Gol Maal turns 45

Hrishi-da’s classic pits two actors with tremendous gift for comedy against each other but not in way of a duel, rather in way that’s a coming-of-age tango between two grown men. The scene where this tango commences, is an all-timer.

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The movie was inspired by Bengali flick Kancha Meetha

Gol Maal was inspired by the story of the Bengali hit movie Kancha Meetha which shows how the lead hero of the movie falls into a trap after lying with his boss for the first time.

Amitabh Bachchan’s cameo

The movie has a cameo by Amitabh Bachchan. In Gol Maal Big B is shown as a Bollywood superstar and the scene that has been shown is also from the sets of the movie Jurmana which Hrishikesh Mukherjee was filming with Amitabh, Raakhee and Vinod Mehra at that time. Rather the director was simultaneously shooting for these two movies and hence it was convenient for him to include Amitabh Bachchan ’s cameo in Gol Maal.

Rekha was the first choice but…

Hrishikesh Mukherji's #Golmaal turns 45 today!

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Hrishikesh Mukherjee earlier wanted to cast Rekha as the female lead for this movie. But then he realised that she was a very strong actress and should be given a role that had some substance whereas in Gol Maal the main focus was on Utpal Dutt and Amol Palekar. So he dropped the idea and instead roped in Bindiya Goswami. Eventually, Rekha was roped in for a special appearance.

Gol Maal was released when action movies were at the top

The movie was released in 1979. It was the time when action was the King and Amitabh was the biggest Bollywood superstar who had delivered back-to-back hits with flicks like Don and Trishul. But Hrishikesh Mukherjee was very sure that the light-hearted comedy in Gol Maal would work.

Hrishikesh Mukherji's #Golmaal turns 45 today!

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Since the movie was not action-based it was made on a very low budget. Interestingly, the producer did not even have to pay much for the costumes of the actors as most of them wore their clothes all through the film.