Kanhaiyalal, a well-known character artist in the Hindi films during the 50s and 60s, was kind of typecast. He always played cunning old men striving to fatten their own coffers. In Bimal Roy's Parakh, the delightful actor is at his petty best as the village priest. He camouflages his selfishness and greed with religiosity. He uses God for his own benefit. Everytime he sneaks up behind a tree to sleuth about two lovers, eavesdrops into a private conversation, plots with the village moneylender or fools God-fearing villagers, you clap and wait for his next serve. I'm not even going into the way he mouths "Narayana, narayana". Simply rollicking!!
