Sunday, July 09, 2006

Golmaal


Yesterday night a theory of mine about Indian movies was proved wrong by an old man in an old movie. I have always believed that no actor from the hindi (or for that matter tamil, telegu or kannada) movie industry was a match for the malayalam actors in portraying comedy. Paresh Rawal is a name which comes to mind when we think of hindi comedy. But he is made to look outstanding because of the mediocrity surrounding him. If i was acting with Sunil, sorry Suniel Shetty, John Abraham or Akshay Kumar, I'd look good too. Not to undermine Paresh Rawal's caliber but if you compare him with stalwarts like Jagathy Sreekumar or Innocent or Cochin Haneefa, he pales in comparison. He would fade into oblivion if he was a comedian in the malayalam industry ( im not talking about new brand of mallu actors like Jayasuriya or Kunjacko Boban).
And then i saw a movie called Golmaal. I think i now know where Priyadarsan and other directors got their inspiration to make the genre of movies which were such hits in Kerala in the mid 80s. The movies with mistaken identities, goof ups and a comic ending where everyone seems to be chasing everyone else. For the first time i saw a hindi actor doing comedy which would have made Mohanlal, Sreenivasan or Jagathy proud. Utpal Dutt was simply AMAZING in the movie and the chemistry between him and Amol Palekar was outstanding. Im guessing the role he played in Golmaal as the eccentric , hard nosed businessman was the one copied by Thilakan and others in scores of mallu movies. The subtle nuances and slap stick comedy in the film are very much like those we see in the Mohanlal, Sreenivasan and Jagathy movies of the 80s.
Blore boyz, a must see for you guys.
Moving on to more tragic movie experiences i had,
Saw 1/4 th of 'Thuruppu Gulan', 3/4 th of 'Chandrolsavam' and the whole of 'Lion'. These movies have the mega stars of malayalam movie industry. Maybe thats why it was a mega pain to even attempt to see these movies. Pathetic.
And on that bright note, i end my musings for the day. toodle doo.

2 comments:

Apoorv Gawde said...

This one is a super cool movie....lot of Amol Palekar movies are good to watch :D

pophabhi said...

Great review. I remember you mentioning this to me over the phone. I guess I will catch hold this from somewhere and bring it to our Bangalore boyz home!

And da - if you can catch hold of Savior or Usual Suspects. Do see. Good movies!