1979 · Film
Gol Maal
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Hindi comedy in which a young accountant invents a clean-shaven twin brother to keep his job with a strict, old-fashioned boss.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Gol Maal is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
With subscription
Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
Ramprasad Sharma has just finished his studies as a chartered accountant and needs a job. His uncle arranges an interview with Bhavani Shankar, a traditional businessman who dislikes modern clothes and sport and distrusts men without moustaches. Ramprasad turns up in a kurta, pretends to know nothing about sport and gets the job. When he skips work to watch a hockey match and his boss spots him there, he claims the man in the stands was his clean-shaven twin, Lakshmanprasad, known as Lucky. Soon he has to keep both identities going.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
A clean, gentle comedy of mistaken identity with no violence and a running time of a little over two hours. Younger children may miss some of the wordplay, but most of the humour works for the whole family.
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Gol Maal was directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and produced by N. C. Sippy, with a screenplay by Sachin Bhowmick, dialogue by Rahi Masoom Raza, and songs by R. D. Burman with lyrics by Gulzar, including "Aane Wala Pal". Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman make guest appearances as themselves.
The film was released on 20 April 1979. At the 27th Filmfare Awards it won Best Actor for Amol Palekar, Best Comedian for Utpal Dutt and Best Lyricist for Gulzar. It has been remade several times, including as the Tamil Thillu Mullu (1981, and again in 2013), the Kannada Aasegobba Meesegobba (1990) and the Malayalam Simhavalan Menon (1995), and the 2012 Hindi film Bol Bachchan is loosely based on it. It is a separate film from Rohit Shetty's Golmaal comedy series, which began in 2006.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Comedy
- Runtime
- 136 min
- Director
- Hrishikesh Mukherjee
- Cast
- Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, Bindiya Goswami, Dina Pathak, Deven Verma
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Gol Maal in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Gol Maal is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
- Is Gol Maal in Hindi?
- Yes. Gol Maal is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Gol Maal?
- Gol Maal runs for 2 hours 16 minutes (136 minutes).