Namak Haraam

Review By Kamal K

This film brilliantly depicts the economic depression era of the 70s through the legends such as Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. How well the bad condition of workers has been shown through the medium of Friendship of two persons. It is a must watch film for each and every Indian and hats of to Hrishikesh Da and other actors who excelled in their respective works.

Amitabh portrays the role of an arrogant son of an industrialist, Rajesh Khanna who is very close friend of Amitabh in this movie goes on the pursuit to avenge Amitabh's insult by a worker but ends up being a worker himself to know the cause why the worker insulted his closest friend. Amitabh does not have any songs in the movie, whereas all songs were sung by the legendary Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna. The comparison between Amitabh & Rajesh Khanna is unfair in this movie as songs are an integral part of Indian Cinema. Although they both are of equal calibre in acting abilities, it was 51 Amitabh & 49 Rajesh Khanna (Kaka as he was fondly known as). Despite all the songs, Amitabh was a shade better.

People call Amitabh's angry young man roles are as stereo type, but they conveniently forget that Rajesh Khanna's many hit movies have the same ending when Rajesh Khanna would evoke maximum sympathy & for no reason would die in the end. Aap Ki kasam, Babu & Namak Haraam to name a few. He invariably requested many directors to kill his character in the end so that he gets more support emotionally from the audience, which was a successful formula for the movie makers of those times. Of course Rajesh Khanna had the knack of selecting better stories than Amitabh who was more interested in using his charisma than the story lines. For Rajesh Khanna, he always used to get the best playback singer Kishore Kumar, the best music by RD Burman & his own supreme acting ability to make a movie run. Amitabh, even the poorest script would make the film run because of him. Amitabh is the cause of poor Cinema in Bollywood now, his craze for any film ruined the quality. Latest heroes (including all khans) all follow Amitabh & not the quality oriented Kaka. Amitabh would suit in any role but Rajesh Khanna he was a misfit as an action hero or angry young man.This shows that Amitabh could do any Rajesh Khanna role but not vice versa.

Overall this Namak Haraam also portrays Om Shivpuri & AK Hangal in powerful roles. The heroes were at their supreme best after Anand where again the battle was equally fought, Rajesh Khanna having lot larger role.

Two of the ALL time bests on the screen together. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan and the music of RD Burman and the voice of Kishore Kumar. Excellent writing. Magic like this is gone forever.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee could never disappoint. Nor could Gulzar. Here Mukherjee directs a film scripted by Gulzar and the result is an excellent film in all respects - real, intelligent, moving. The movie starts well and keeps growing on you as it proceeds.

This is a story of two brother-like friends, Somu (Khanna) and Vicky (Bachchan). Somu lives a poor lifestyle with his mother and sister while Vicky is the son of a wealthy businessman who runs a huge factory in Bombay. When Vicky's father has a heart attack and is advised to take bed-rest, Vicky takes his place. He has a confrontation with the union leader, Bipinlal, as a result of which a strike takes place and he is forced to apologise in public. He confides Somu about his humiliation, and the two plan to take revenge on the poor honest man. Somu poses as a labourer in the factory, befriends his fellow-workers, wins their confidence by arranging them several contrived benefits, and ultimately takes Bipilal's place as the union leader. But while the mission gets completed, Somu finds it difficult to leave. He gradually gets close to the people and gets increasingly involved with their life troubles, which makes him look at things differently.

This social drama is brilliantly written - an interesting story, a tight conflicted script, awesome dialogues. Mukherjee's direction is excellent as always, and the film is brilliantly executed. The depiction of poverty and hardship among people from the lower middle class is spot on and at points really manages to tug at your heartstrings. That makes it easier to understand Somu's involvement with the world of simple villagers, a world he actually belongs to but an involvement which could smash his friendship with Vicky. This conflict of interests is well brought out by Mukherjee. The film of course presents a clash of opposing economic worlds, but it works essentially because of the human relationship between the two friends, which is extremely well done. Somu and Vicky are very different, the former being soft-spoken, simple and generous, and the latter being hot-tempered, proud and a bit aggressive. Yet their friendship is convincing and it's clear that each one of them would do anything for the other.

Rajesh Khanna plays Somu exceedingly well, and his character is very easy to relate to. But it is clearly Amitabh Bachchan's film. As Vicky, he delivers an impressive performance by creating a tough, dignified and stylish persona. His decisiveness, inner conflict, anger and care for a friend are excellently displayed, and everything--from his facial expressions to his line delivery to his body language--is incredibly forceful. Apart from Bachchan and Khanna, the cast includes many good actors, all of whom perform well. A very young Rekha appears in a tiny role as the sassy Shyama and she is very charming. Simi Garewal plays the intelligent and educated Manisha with grace. A.K. Hangal is outstanding and likable as Bipinlal. Om Shivpuri does a good job as Vicky's dad and he gets some of the better dialogues in this film. Raza Murad is wonderful as Alam, an alcoholic poet who befriends Somu. So are Durga Khote and actress Manisha who play Somu's mother and sister.

Namak Haram is one of many great films made by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and written by Gulzar, with a beautiful soundtrack composed by master RD Burman and some memorable performances. I recommend you to watch Namak Haram - it is entertaining, it is moving, it is heartbreaking, it is a classic.

Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachan put in two of the best performances of Indian cinema. Although Amitabh Bachan in a louder role got more praise from the masses, it is Rajesh Khanna in a role that required underplaying, who is the heart of the film and whose acting performance is as good if not better than that of Amitabh. This is not to say that Amitabh puts in a truly great acting performance (one of his best). The film itself is excellent and is another tribute to the greatness and versatility of Hrishikesh Mukherjee (director). Quite simply put, it is in the 'MUST NOT MISS' category. By the way the excellent music is also a real plus.