Amol Palekar famously pretended to not know that pearls could be black in Gol Mal (1979). After the snivelling job-seeking braggard Srivastav, played by Harish Magon, left a potential boss bemused. But only in the ultimate con-movie of two-faced deceptions could the mirthless Utpal Dutt be unimpressed by an applicant gushing about Pelé. Where the 30-35 thousand flocking to watch him in Kolkata could be glibly termed ‘fools’, to land a job. Surely, the economist Lele-loving Palekar knew Pelé and loved him very much. Though, much like the book-keeping pedant Utpal, maybe Pelé too thought his magic was mundane. For...