HRISHIKESH MUKHERJEE - A GEM OF A PERSON. Review on Golmaal (1979)

Hrishikesh Mukherjee is no more............ It seems unbelievable but thats the truth. The great director was a gentleman to the core. A down to earth human being who cared for one and all. Humility was Hrishida's second name. I met Hrishida in 1996 at Rockcliff, his Bandra residence. I was fortunate to have spend a lot time with the great man during my three encounters with him. I was doing an article titled "The making of Golmaal" for film and tv magazine Tinsel Town. I asked him about R.D.Burman and his face instantly brightened up. "We shared a fabulous rapport.", he quipped before adding," I was very close to both the Burmans. They understood exactly what I required for a particular song sequence and delivered it aptly." Then our conversation veered around Golmaal and particularly the song Aanewala pal. He revealed that he was very much present during the rehearsal when Panchamda had played the tune on the harmonium along with Kishoreda and Gulzar. Then he suddenly paused and said, "Oh my ! what a wonderful song it was and Kishore did full justice with his amazing voice". However during the recording at Filmcentre he couldnt make it since he was held up in Calcutta due to some other commitment. The greatest hallmark about Hrishida was that he so human, humble, transparent and genuine that while talking to him I wondered whether he was the same person who made some of the finest motion pictures of our times. He was an exceptional case. He was so thrilled talking about his work that he literally took me around his house and showed me several things which were used in his films. For instance the small kitchen window from where Dina Pathak squeezed inside the house in that hilarious sequence from Golmaal. Then pointing to a brown wooden table placed at a corner he added "This table was used in Anand where Amitabh sits and writes his dairy". I believe in simple film making and lay more stress on screenplay and performances. He then told me how he had to shot the song sequence ‘Zindagi kaisi hai paheli’ in two hours since Rajesh Khanna was a very busy artiste then. He was confident of that and the sequence was canned at Juhu beach. He told me that he was a producer’s director and never wasted raw stock. This he could acieve because of his expertise in editing. He would never shoot the same shot in different angles like the others. He knew what he wanted and it was picturised that way. He said Rekha was very upset with him for not casting her in Golmaal instead of Bindya Goswami. He promised her that he would make a film where she would be the central character and assured her that in Golmaal the heroine’s role was not of consequence. He lived up to his word and made Khoobsurat and then after seeing the film Rekha hugged him with joy. Interestingly he shot most of Golmaal in his bungalow Anupama at carter road Bandra and at producer N C Sippy's bungalow at Juhu. During the end of tete-e-tete he narrated the story of Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaate to me but suddenly the enthusiasm was missing in his tone. It was suppose to be the trilogy of Golmaal and Naram Garam. When I asked him will todays artistes live up to his earlier films. He looked at me and said in a sad tone “ Beta I have no option. I cant bring back Utpal Dutt. Amol Palekar has quit acting long back. What can I do “. I knew that very moment that the film will tank and that is what happened. With Hrishida's demise an era of innocence, morality, wholesome family entertainment and intellectual filmmaking has come to an end. He will continue to live in the hearts of film buffs till time immemorial and his films will cherish and enthrall millions for ages. His style may have been Simple but it was Profound.

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