Namak Halaal (1982)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Prakash Mehra

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Plot:

Young Arjun (Amitabh Bachchan) is brought up by his Daddu (Om Prakash). His Daddu decides for him to go to the city in search of a new job and life...

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Amitabh Bachchan	...	Arjun Singh
Waheeda Rehman	...	Savitridevi
Shashi Kapoor	...	Raja
Smita Patil	...	Poonam
Parveen Babi	...	Nisha
Om Prakash	...	Dasrath Singh (Daddu)
Ranjeet	...	Ranjit Singh
Satyendra Kapoor	...	Girdar
Ram P. Sethi	...	Bhairon
Kamal Kapoor	...	Sanyal (Raja's father)
Chandrashekhar	...	Mehta (Lawyer)
Ashalata Wabgaonkar	...	Nisha's mother
Dev Kumar	...	Deva
Harish Magon	...	Poonam's blind brother
Nandita Thakur	...	Hotel Clerk

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG

Quotes:

Arjun Singh: I know such English that I will leave the British behind. You see sir, I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English, I can run English, because English is such a funny language. Bhairo becomes Byron because their minds are very narrow...

Movie Connections:

References The Party (1968)

Soundtrack:

Pag Ghungroo Bandh

A Classic Indian Comedy Thriller

I've liked most of the comedies by the Shashi Kapoor- Amitabh Bachchan duo than the more serious films they did e.g. 'Deewar'. Another title that comes to mind right now is 'Do Aur Do Paanch'. 'Suhaag' too works as a semi-comedy.

'Namak Halaal' provides numerous laughter and entertainment. There is the loyal servant (Bachchan) who's protecting his employer, a hotel owner (Kapoor) because of the promise he made to his mother (Rehman) and he also falls in love with a fellow employee (Patil). There is a grandfather (Prakash) who wants his grandson to make it on his own. There's a siren (Babi) who's been hired to assassinate the hotel owner. Then there's the evil manager (Ranjeet) who wants to frame the mother and kill the owner in order to takeover the hotel.

Mehra puts it all together and gives us a thriller/ comedy. This gives Amitabh another chance to show his comedic abilities. The actor does reasonably well at most parts but he does tend to go over the top. Shashi Kapoor is quite adequate. Smita Patil is luminous and Parveen Babi is ravishing. Waheeda Rehman does well with her part as does Om Prakash.

The songs are a strong point. Though the first song is better to watch than listen to, the rest are both pleasant for the ears and filmed nicely. Parveen looks particularly stunning in 'Raat Baki' while Smita is sexy in the white sari rain song.

'Namak Halaal' is one film that can be enjoyed with the family. It does have its share of flaws as some of the comedy fails to be funny (mostly due to Amitabh's over the top acting).