Namak Haraam

Namak Haraam is a drama film directed by Late Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film stars Late Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Asrani, Raza Murad, Late A. K. Hangal, Simi Garewal and Late Om Shivpuri.

Two best friends decide to exact revenge on the union leader by one of the friend joins the factory and starts working as a Labour. However, when the friend understands the plight of the workers, it creates a rift between the two friends.

What a great film by Hrishi da and this film truly shows his class as a director. Hrishi da had the talent to take the best out of every actor and this film is a prime example of it.

The plot of the film is good and execution is superb, the film is little predictable in nature but presentation is good and will keep you entertained. The film has good drama and is beautifully supported by mesmerizing songs.

Acting is superb and the strongest aspect of the film. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan both of them compliments each other very well and will give you the glimpse of another masterpiece film Anand but for me in this film Amitabh Bachchan outshone Rajesh Khanna and it seems that the death of the character of Rajesh Khanna backfired this time as the dialogues by Amitabh Bachchan in climax was stunningly great.

Music of the film his mesmerizing and almost all the songs were successful and is still looks great to listen. Climax of the film is strong. A must watch film for all the true cinema lovers.

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.

I have just seen the movie Namak Haraam. I am stunned. I cannot understand why this movie is ignored on TV channels. It has everything which makes a movie great. It has story, drama, enchanting songs and above all amazing performance by two great actors Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh. The story is predictable but the plot and presentation make it absorbing. It has some occasions to shed tears also. Character study of Amitabh and Rajesh is quite deep. Both the actors are my favourites. Amitabh with his imposing style and Rajesh with his soft loving style of acting are two poles apart. But they fit like gems in their respective characters. This movies has become my top five favourites of Rajesh Khanna with Dushman, Amar Prem, and Anand.

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.

Namak Haraam is about two friends and how gradually social status comes in between them but they remain friends and sacrifice for each other. This Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie had some excellent music by R D Burman. Whereas in Anand, Amitabh had a small role here he has a parallel role against the Super Star Rajesh Khanna and both have done their role well. Amitabh has a loud role as against the soft role of Superstar and thus Amitabh got noticed in the movie. This is the second and last time that Rajesh and Amitabh acted in a movie ever. However, the movie is a classic epic and tale of two friends which is a must see for both Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan fans and here they will be able to make out what Super Star Rajesh Khanna was all about - the best emotional and romantic hero in India ever.