| Ganesh Ghote | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Perfect Murder (1964) |
| Last appearance | A Small Case for Inspector Ghote? (2009) |
| Created by | H. R. F. Keating |
| Portrayed by | Zia Mohyeddin Kevork Malikyan Sam Dastor Naseeruddin Shah |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Inspector |
| Occupation | Police detective |
| Spouse | Protima |
| Children | Ved |
| Nationality | Indian |
Inspector Ganesh Ghote (pronouncedGO-tay)[1] is a fictional Indianpolice officer who is the main character in English authorH. R. F. Keating'sdetective novels. Ghote is aninspector in the police force ofBombay (a.k.a. Mumbai),India.
Ghote first appeared in the novelThe Perfect Murder (1964), in which his investigation of the apparent murder of theParsi, Mr Perfect, was assisted informally by theSwedishUNESCO analyst Axel Svensson. The novel, which Keating wrote without ever having been to India, won aCrime Writers' AssociationGold Dagger Award and was adapted into afilm in 1988 byMerchant Ivory.
H. R. F. Keating intended Ghote's final appearance to be in the novelBreaking and Entering (2000), in which he was reunited with Axel Svensson as he investigated a series of cat burglaries that ultimately enabled him to solve the high-profile murder that was occupying the rest of his colleagues. Since that time, however, Keating has writtenInspector Ghote's First Case (2008) andA Small Case For Inspector Ghote? (2009).
Ghote's father appears in the novelThe Murder of the Maharajah (1980). Ghote is married; his wife, Protima, is a beautiful, spirited, and argumentative, though loving, Bengali. They have a son, Ved, invariably referred to in the earlier novels as "little Ved". In most novels, Ghote finds that he has to spend almost as much time fighting the Indian criminal justice system bureaucracy as he does in fighting criminals. He also tends to get little respect from the often rich and powerful people he must investigate in connection with his work, though in the end he typically wins the day through sheer doggedness.[2] In these characteristics, he has been compared to the American fictional detectiveColumbo.[3]
The noted actorNaseeruddin Shah played the role of Ghote inThe Perfect Murder.
Zia Mohyeddin starred in an adaptation ofInspector Ghote Hunts the Peacock for the BBC anthology seriesDetective.
In May 2020,Endemol Shine India was announced to adapt the novels for Television.[4] As of 2024, there has been no word on the project.
Kevork Malikyan played Ghote twice:Inspector Ghote Makes a Journey (1973[5]) andInspector Ghote and the River Man (1974[6]).
In 1984,Sam Dastor starred inInspector Ghote Hunts the Peacock.[7])
