Namak Halaal review :
"E lo kar lo baat
Babuji, Aisi Angrezi ave hain ke I can leave Angrez behind.
You see sir, I can talk English,
I can walk English,
I can laugh English
Because English is a very phunny language".
This iconic dialogue evoked laughter galore in theatres and transformed the film's hero in to a one man show. Earlier in the '60s and '70s, Bollywood needed a Mehmood or a Rajendra Nath for the comedy track which would run parallel to the main plot. Not anymore!! Superstar Amitabh Bachchan changed the trend and how!! Now the hero would not just sing songs and bash up the villains but he would tickle the audience to lol as well.
Namak Halaal, directed by Prakash Mehra, is Bachchan show all the way. As Arjun Singh, he becomes a one man show stealer - almost a standup entertainer to his audience. Its not that others dont matter here. There is Shashi Kapoor as Big B's employer cum dost and the beautiful Smita Patil as his colleague cum love interest. And yup, who can forget the charming Parveen Babi singing "Raat baaki baat baaki" to an enchanted audience.
Namak Halaal is an out and out masala entertainer blending action, emotion, comedy and drama to perfection which Prakash Mehra was known for in his hey days. His films provided wholesome entertainment for all ages and appealed to class as well as mass audience.
The typical lost and found formula was peppered with awesome music score by Bappi Lahiri. Coming to the much heralded eleven and half minutes 'Pag ghungroo bandh' song, Kishore Kumar is at his best here and Amitabh is equally brilliant performing it on screen. In another chartbuster, Amitabh and Smita Patil literally scorched the screen in the rain number 'Aaj rapat jayen'. The song is so sensous but never vulgar.
Namak Halaal remains my personal favourite Bachchan film. It not only proved his versatility as an actor but re-affirmed his superstar status at the box office. Having seen it multiple times on TV, I watched it recently in a Sunday afternoon re-run at New Excelsior, Mumbai and trust me, the film cheered me just like before. Something lasts forever!!
Regards,
Sumeet Nadkarni.
