Gol Maal

Gol Maal is a 1979 Indian comedy directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who also produced it with N.C. Sippy. The story follows Ram Prasad Sharma, a young man who wants a well-paid job but finds that the position is open to him only if he presents himself as a serious, straitlaced type. The employer is Bhavani Shankar, a man with strict, old-fashioned ideas about how his employees should behave. To hold on to the job, Ram invents a fictional twin brother, Laxman, whose cheerful and casual manner gives him a convenient excuse whenever his real interests in sport and music threaten to expose him. The deception deepens as the boss grows more watchful, and Ram must keep adding to it while managing his relationship with Urmila and the concerns of those around him.

Amol Palekar plays the dual role of Ram and Laxman, with Utpal Dutt as the suspicious Bhavani Shankar, Bindiya Goswami as Urmila, and Dina Pathak and Deven Verma in supporting parts. The screenplay is by Sachin Bhowmick. Gol Maal stands among Mukherjee's 1970s comedies of middle-class life, made around the middle of a long run of films he directed.

On TMDB the film holds a rating of 7.6 out of 10 from 92 votes, indicating a small but clearly favourable response. At 144 minutes, it is a full-length comedy built on mistaken identity and the complications of an expanding lie.