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Pandu Havaldar

1975 143’ b&w Marathi d/co-lyr Dada Kondke pc Sadiccha Chitra s/co-lyr Rajesh Majumdar co-lyr Jagdish Khebudkar c Arvind Laad m Ram-Lakshman lp Dada Kondke, Usha Chavan, Ashok Saraf, Lata Arun, Ratnamala, Gulab Mokashi, Mohan Kothivan

Kondke’s ribald crazy comedy hit, a change from his usual rural Tamasha-derived formula, continues the director-star’s fondness for sexual puns, as in the song Aho havaldar majhya kulupachi chavi haravli (‘I lost the key to my lock’). Pandu Havaldar (Kondke) is a corrupt cop, a comical figure whose costume undermines any effort to appear authoritative, and an ally of Paru Kelewali, a fruitseller with links to a smuggling ring. The gang is smashed and the cop humanised through the unashamedly sentimental use of a deaf-and- dumb woman he rescues.

Film