Namak Halaal

Namak Halaal (transl. Loyal Servant) is a 1982 Indian comedy masala film, directed by Prakash Mehra and written by Kader Khan. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Smita Patil, Parveen Babi, Waheeda Rehman, Om Prakash, Ranjeet, Satyen Kappu, Suresh Oberoi and Ram Sethi. It features music produced by Bappi Lahiri, with lyrics written by Anjaan.

Not to be confused with Namak Haraam.

Namak Halaal
Film poster
Directed byPrakash Mehra
Produced bySatyendra Pal
Written byKader Khan (dialogue)
StarringAmitabh Bachchan
Shashi Kapoor
Smita Patil
Parveen Babi
Music byBappi Lahiri
Release date
  • 30 April 1982 (1982-04-30)
Running time
172 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box office₹120 million[1] ($12.69 million)[2]

The film went on to be the third highest-grossing Indian film of 1982,[3] grossing ₹120 million (US$12.64 million).[1] It is the biggest comedy blockbuster of all time in India, where it sold more than 20 million tickets, with an inflation-adjusted net income equivalent to nearly ₹3 billion (US$42 million) as of 2019.[4] It was remade in Telugu as Bhale Ramudu (1984) and in Tamil as Velaikaran (1987). The song "Raat Baaki" has been recreated by Tanishk Bagchi for the movie Ittefaq. The movie, Namak Halaal is most famous for the dialogue:

I can talk English, I can walk English, I can laugh English because English is a very funny language.

— Arjun Singh (Amitabh Bachchan), Namak Halaal

Plot

Bhim Singh (Suresh Oberoi) works as a manager and personal bodyguard to Seth Raja Singh (Kamal Kapoor) and saves him from many murder attempts planned by Raja's step brother, Girdhar Singh. One day Raja Singh appoints Savitri (Waheeda Rehman), Bhim Singh's wife as trustee to their property and guardian to his toddler son Raja Kumar. On the same day, he and Bhim Singh die at the hands of Girdhar Singh. Savitri promises her husband that she would take care of Raja Kumar at any rate. Everyone including Bhim Singh's father Dashrath Singh (Om Prakash) blames Savitri thinking that she killed her husband and employer for money. Savitri hands over young Arjun to Dashrath Singh and settles herself as Raja Kumar's mother to protect him.

Later Arjun (Amitabh Bachchan) grows up to be a naive youngster under the care of Dashrath Singh. He moves to the city to build his life on his own and joins as a bellboy in a five star restaurant. There he meets Poonam (Smita Patil) and they both fall in love. That hotel is owned by Raja Kumar (Shashi Kapoor) and run by Savitri. Hotel manager Ranjit Singh (Ranjeet) is the son of Girdhar Singh and plans to kill Raja. They manage to show Savitri as a culprit and Raja believes that and suspects Savitri.

Gradually Arjun comes to know that Savitri is actually his, not Raja's mother and swears that he would protect Raja at any rate, just like his father did. Meanwhile, Raja meets a beautiful young dancer Nisha (Parveen Babi) and gets attracted to her. She is actually hired by Ranjit Singh to kill Raja, but Nisha falls in love with Raja and couldn't kill him. Finally she arranges a party on a boat to execute her plan, but Arjun foils it.

Finally goons kidnap Arjun's and Raja's family members and blackmail them to transfer all his property to Ranjit's name. Arjun and Raja beat all bad guys and save their loved ones. Raja marries Nisha and Arjun marries Poonam at the end and they reconcile with their mother Savitri.

Cast

Trivia

Raj Babbar was Prakash Mehra's original choice for the role of "Raja Singh", a role which eventually went to Shashi Kapoor.[5]

Amitabh Bachchan portrays the protagonist Arjun Singh, who was influenced by the character Hrundi Bakshi, the protagonist of the 1968 Hollywood film The Party; Hrundi Bakshi is an Indian character who was portrayed by British comedian Peter Sellers.[6]

Prakash Mehra's favourite actors Ranjeet and Satyen Kappu acted in this film after Laawaris.

Baapi Lahiri scored music for the first time for a Prakash Mehra film, after blockbusters Muqaddar Ka Sikandar & Laawaris, by Kalyanji Anandji association with Prakash Mehra.

Soundtrack
Namak Halaal
Film score by
Bappi Lahiri
Released1982
GenreFeature film soundtrack
LanguageHindi
LabelEMI Records
ProducerBappi Lahiri

The movie's soundtrack, which consisted of five songs, became a huge hit. Singer Kishore Kumar bagged his 5th Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song 'Pag Ghungroo Baandh'.

'Jawani Jaaneman' went on to become a major hit. The intro to the song is similar to Sammy Davis Jr's Candyman melody. The main part of the song has similarities to Donna Summer's The Wanderer. 'Raat Baaki', another song picturized on Parveen Babi, also became a big hit.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Yeh Pag Ghunghroo Bandh Meera Naachi Thi"Kishore Kumar, Pandit Satyanarayan Mishra11:37
2."Aaj Rapat Jaayen To Hamen Naa Uthaiyo"Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle06:46
3."Jawaani Jaaneman"Asha Bhosle05:55
4."Thodi Si Jo Pee Li Hai"Kishore Kumar06:49
5."Raat Baaki Baat Baaki"Bappi Lahiri, Asha Bhosle07:31
Total length:38:40

References
  1. "Box Office 1982". Box Office India. 5 October 2013. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  2. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)". World Bank. 1982. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  3. "Box Officer By Year", Muvyz, http://muvyz.com/boxoffice/byyear/y3/1982
  4. "Top Comedy Nett Grossers - Housefull 4 Tops". boxofficeindia.com. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  5. "Raj Babbar Behind the Scenes". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  6. "Picture the song: Bring out the eyeshades for 'Jawani Jaanemann' from 'Namak Halaal'". Scroll.in. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
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