Ammaldar

1953 118’ b&w Marathi d K. Narayan Kale, Madhukar Kulkarni pc Mangal Pics st N. Gogol’s The Government Inspector co-sc/lyr G.D. Madgulkar co-sc/m P.L. Deshpande c Bal Bapat lp P.L. Deshpande, G.D. Madgulkar, K. Narayan Kale, Sheila Naik, Leela Ogale, Vinay Kale

With Gulacha Ganapati and Devbappa (both 1953), this is one of the popular Marathi satirist, playwright and stage actor P.L. Deshpande’s best-known films. His adaptation of Gogol’s play is better anchored in the Indian situation than Afsar (1950). Various local stereotypes are incisively cast in this tale of Sarjerao (Deshpande), mistaken for a government official in a corrupt post-Independence village.

Film