Buddha Mil Gaya

Buddha Mil Gaya (lit. 'The old man is found')^[a] is a 1971 Hindi-language comedy thriller^[b] film, produced by L. B. Lachman and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.^[1][2][3]

Buddha Mil Gaya
poster
Directed by	Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Written by	Screenplay: Bimal Dutt Additional Scenes: D. N. Mukherji Dialogues: Pal Mahindra
Story by	Shyam Ramsay (credited as Shyam)
Produced by	L. B. Lachman
Starring	Om Prakash Navin Nischol Deven Verma Archana
Cinematography	Jaywant Pathare
Edited by	Das Dhaimade
Music by	R. D. Burman
Release date	15 October 1971 (1971-10-15)
Running time	138 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

The film stars Om Prakash, Navin Nischol, Deven Verma, Archana, Sonia Sahni, Aruna Irani, Asit Sen and Lalita Pawar. The music is by R.D. Burman and the lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri.^[2]

Plot

Unemployed slackers Bhola (Deven Verma) and Ajay (Navin Nischol) come across a newspaper advertisement about a missing elderly gentleman, whose estate is worth millions. They find him in the Hanging Garden Park in Bombay and decide to make him their paternal uncle. They take him to live with them in a rented apartment, which they cannot afford. This elderly man, Girdharilal (Om Prakash), takes an unusual interest in Ajay's girlfriend, Deepa. While Bhola and Ajay try to find ways and means of getting rich by turning Girdharilal in, a number of horrific homicides are committed, all against former business associates of Girdharilal, and the clues all point toward the hapless duo.

Trivia

Navin Nischol wears a wig in this film.^[4]

Cast

• Navin Nischol as Ajay
• Deven Verma as Bhola
• Archana as Deepa
• Sonia Sahni as Mona
• Om Prakash as Girdharilal Sharma
• Aruna Irani as Parvati
• Lalita Pawar as Deepa's paternal grandmother
• Asit Sen as Jhunjhunwala
• M. B. Shetty
• Brahm Bhardwaj as Bhagat
• Dulari as Nirmala Sharma

Music

The lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and the music was given by Rahul Dev Burman.

Song	Singer(s)
"Raat Kali Ek Khwab Mein Aayi"	Kishore Kumar
"Bhali Bhali Si Ek Surat"	Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
"Aayo Kahan Se Ghanshyam"	Manna Dey, Archana
"Jiya Na Laage Mora"	Lata Mangeshkar
"Mai Buddho Lambo Lambo"	Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar

Footnotes

1. An interesting allusion to the murderer
2. The allusions to the comedy and thrill start from the titling itself. When the banner "produced by" comes up, one initially sees "Mistake" (produced by mistake), but this metamorphoses into L. B. Lachman. Immediately afterwards comes the banner of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. This time, the banner itself changes, saying "Murdered by" (Murdered by Hrishikesh Mukherjee). Then, the banner metamorphoses into "Directed by". These simple devices tell an informed viewer that he is in for a good comedy/thriller fare.