Made in Rs 1 crore, this classic was shot in 40 days, director made film to battle depression, movie inspired 6 remakes

There is a reason why the decade of the 70s was called the 'golden era of Hindi cinema'. In those days, Bollywood churned out several blockbusters that later became classics. From emotional family dramas to masala entertainers, and rib-tickling laugh riots, the 70s had it all. Today we will discuss a classic comedy that was shot in less than 50 days. The movie was made out of frustration of the director. Inspired by a character from a regional film, this movie was remade six times in different languages. 

The classic comedy that inspired Indian cinema is...

Gol Maal (1979), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee (also known as Hrishi Da) and written by Rahi Masoom Raza and Sachin Bhowmick. The Hindi comedy stars, Utpal Dutt, Amol Palekar, Bindiya Goswami, David, and Deven Verma in key roles. The story of Gol Maal revolves around Ram Prasad Sharma's (Amol) simple lie to secure his job, which escalates into more complex lies when his orthodox boss Bhavai Shankar (Utpal) gets suspicious.

Gol Maal was made to battle depression

In a report of Bollywood Hungama, Hrishikesh was quoted that his movie Alap with Amitabh Bachchan won critical acclaim, but it was a commercial failure. "I was completely shattered by it and went through depression for several months. To snap out of it I decided to make an out-and-out comedy," Hrishi Da said.  

Gol Maal was inspired from? 

In the same conversation Mukherjee said that during his low phase, he happened to watch a Bangla film titled Kancha Meetha (sour and sweet). In that film, the hero kept fabricating tales and to cover one lie he would invent several other stories. This goes on till the last reel. He said, "I was fascinated by the character and decided to make a film with 'The Web of Lies' as the central theme." 

Gol Maal was completed in...

Interestingly, the film was completed in 40 days. Hrishikesh revealed that barring a dream sequence, and a few other scenes, the entire movie was shot in Hrishi Da's  Bandra bungalow, Anupama. 

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Rekha was replaced with Bindiya Goswami

Rekha was Hrishikesh's original choice for the film. However, the director later realised he wouldn't be doing justice to such a brilliant artiste as there were not many scenes for the heroine in the film. When the director told this to Rekha, she got upset, but he promised to collaborate with a better film, and later Khoobsurat was made. 

Box office collection of Gol Maal 

Made in the reported budget of Rs 1 crore, Gol Maal grossed Rs 7 crore worldwide. The film almost made a 600% profit, and it was considered one of the biggest hits of the year. 

Gol Maal was remade into...

Gol Maal gained cult status in comedies and inspired six remakes. Gol Maal was first remade with Rajinikanth's Thillu Mullu (1981), then in Kannada as Aasegobba Meesegobba (1990), in Malayalam as Simhavalan Menon (1995), and in Sinhala as Rasa Rahasak. Even Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan (2012) was loosely based on Gol Maal. Bol Bachchan was later remade in Telugu as Masala (2015), which had the working title Gol Maal.

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