Golmaal (1979): Trends Of Code Mixing And Code Switching

Bollywood which is a common name
for HindifilmindustryofIndia
serves all the basic Hindi
entertainment to our country and
iswell acknowledgedboth
byemigrantsofIndianorigin
livingoutsideIndia. 80’swas anera
before Bollywoodemerged.Itholds
importanceasthiswasanera
whenwesternizationstarting
toappearintoIndianCinema.
As the end of the century (the 90s
And 2000) was approaching majority
of Bollywoodmoviesfeatured
Westernthemes. Notonlydidtheyshootmovies inforeignlocationswith
foreignactors, singersand, dancers, theyusedEnglishin dialogues
morethanever, whichultimately
reflectedthechangingtimesinIndia. SinceBollywood has ever since
been so integralto Indianculture, thesemovieshave nowopened the doorforcode-switching intotheAverage Indian domesticlife. HereIamattemptingtoseethe

the patternofcodemixingand
code-switching in Golmaal, a super hitcomedy ofthe 80s’ andtryto
analyze it with respect
toculturalaspectsofthatera.

(1) MovieName: Golmaal
(2) YearofRelease: 1979
(3) Director: HrishikeshMukherjee
(4) Writers:
RahiMasoomRaza&
SachinBhowmick
(5) Producer: N.C. Sippy
(6) Genre: Comedy
(7) Cast:
(i) AmolPalekarasRam Prasad
Dasratha PrasadSharmaand
Lakshman
PrasadDasrathaPrasadSharma
/Lucky Sharma
(ii) UtpalDuttasBhavaniShankar
(iii) BindiyaGoswamiasUrmila
(iv) DavidAbrahamCheulkaras
DoctorKedar

Thismovieisallaboutayoungman
playedbyAmolPalekar i.e., Ram
Prasad Sharmawhogetsajobat UtpalDutt’scompanywherehe
disguiseshimselfwithamanhaving
a mustache and withsanskarsandtraditionsbut
inreality,heiscleanshavedyoung
man, quite westernizedand
oppositeashepretendedtohis
boss, andplaystheroleoffictional twinbrother i.e., Laxman Prasad
Sharma or Lucky. Ramisasportsandmusiclover,
day daydreaming enthusiastic man. Settingthealarmat5.30 a.m. just tolistenTestmatch commentary, expectingSunilGavaskar, Viswanath, BishanBedi, Chandrashekhar, andMohinderAmarnathtodestroy

theAustralian team; getting excitedto seeBlackPearl ‘Pele’ playwith MohunBaganclearly and at the same time being excited for hockey match indicates that there has never been afilmhero having such a diversity in choices towards sports. Sinceheisplayingtheroleofa

CharateredAccountant, hefrequentlyusesCodemixingin
hisconversationgivinghimselfan
edgetowardsbeingportrayedas
modernanduppermiddleclass.
E.g. “ Ratna 5:30kaalarmlaga de. KalTestmatchKicommentaryhai…India vs. Australia…..
Vishwanathbhiform
mehai…” Hereinthissentencecodemixing isbeingappliedas socialfunction inordertoappropriate socialstatus/position.

RamPrasadislookingforajob. Inhisfamilyincludinghimhehas
hissisterRatna. Throughaclosefamilyfriend
DoctorMama(David)hecomes
toknowaboutajob atUrmilaTradingCorporation
ownedbyBhavaniShankar (UtpalDutt). Whenhis uncleDoctorKedarMama (DavidAbraham) arrangesahigh-payingjobopportunity with UrmiliaTrading, Ramhasto

pretendtoknownothingofsports
andwear traditionalkurta
pajamasinordertoimpressthe
straight-lacedcompanyowner,
Bhavani Shankar.

Hereitisimportanttonotethat
DoctorMamaplaysavery
importantandinfluentialrole
andsodoeshisarticulationof
dialoguesreflectit. Beingapartofupperclasshis
dialoguesareacombinationof
CodemixingandCodeswitching
atmost. Oneofthebest
examplesofhisdialoguesconsisting thisphenomenoniswhenDoctor
Mamaisdescribingabout
BhawaniShankar, “ Bhawanimere
bachpankadosthai…He isacharacterwhohasstronglikes
anddislikes…andtereuskeliesabsepluspoint
haiterimooch (moustache)”.
Englishdialoguesinthemoviesof
late80swerewrittenforthe
characterswhowerein theearlyphaseofWesternisation
Infleunce. E.g., Badri NarayanSrivastavawhoisanupper-classgraduateseekingjobin
Bhavani’sCompany. HeusesCodeMixingandCode
SwitchingonInter-SenentialLevel,
“ PelekokehtehaiBlackPearl, whataplayerSir…..Whataplayer…” thoughhedidn’tgethired. OnceRamgetshired, he becomesa

modelemployeeandsoonearnsa
payraise. Butwhenhisfriendsconvincehim
tomakeupanexcusetoleavework,
sohecanjointhemattheIndia-Pakistanhockeymatch,hegets
spottedbyhisboss, whoisenragedatthedeception andwantstofirehim. Raminstantly makesupastoryabouthavinga

clean-shaventwinbrother,
"Lucky", claiming he musthavebeenatthestadium and swearshewasreallyathometaking caringforhissickmother all

afternoon. RamPrasad addsthathis
brotherLaxmanPrasadisgoodfor
nothingandofnouse andisaspoiltnothavinganywork.

BhavaniShankarbecomesemotional
andwantstohelp RamPrasadrelieve
frombeingtheonlyonetosupport
hisfamilyandheemploys LaxmanPrasadasamusicteacher
forhisdaughter Urmila (Bindya Goswami). ThecharacterofLaxmanisofa
highlymodernSinger. Togivetheupper-classedge
tothecharacterthedialoguesare
fullofintersententialandExtra
sententialCodeswitching
aswellasStylisticandsocial
functionsofCodemixing. E.g.,
• “Hi.Mali…( higardener)..” (StylisticCodeMixing)
• “Comein a youngman”
( Congruent Lexicalisation)
• “Asyou please Sir.JaisiaapkiMarzi..
( ExtrasententialCodeswitching)
• “BhaiyakehrahetheaapkoMusic
teacherkijarurathai…”
( StylisticandsocialCodemixing)
• “Okay…Okay…Agreed…”
( IntersententialCode-switching)

BhawaniShankerisanupperclass
Businessman. Hisarticulations
arealwaysfullofCodemixingCode-mixingswitchingbutheisadeeply
rootedman. One of the bestexample
ofhisbestdialoguesfrom the movieiswhenheisattendingan
upper-classpartyand
criticizesoneofhisfriendssaying:
“ Aaj KalKiPartyhotikahanhai…Partykenaam pelike Shionparadehotehai…
Fancydress showhotahai… (thesedaystherearenoreal
parties..allpartieshaveturnedinto
a fashionshoworfancydress)
Tumkisme Aeho?... FashionshowmeyaFancy
dre, s me?...(wellwhichoneyouaretrying
toattend? Fashionshoworfancydress)
Haan..haan…NationalDresskaMazaknahi
uraogeto broad-miondedkaise
kahe joage..!!!(yeah..yeah…making a jokeof the nationaldress hasbecomethesymbolofbecoming
broad-mindedpeople..isn’tit?)
BhavanioffersLaxmanPrasadthe
the jobofteaching the ngmusictoUrmila, whofallsinlove withherteacher. WhenBhavanidiscoversthetruth, ahilariouschaseendsupinthe policestation. OmPrakashandUtpalDuttliven

uptheclosingchapterofthefilm. OmPrakashshouting“Police
OfPolicendDuttretortingwitha “FoolishOfficer” refrainisone
oftheenjoyablemomentsof
the film.