Archive for month: July, 2026

When I was doing research for my book on Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Human Cinema available on Amazon on Kindle and Print ; for Amazon link, please click here http://bit.ly/4pnxUPL ), I came across this statement by Hrishida – “My film is not a copy of any foreign film; it is just a story of two friends one of whom doesn’t want to let go of the other”. If anything, Hrishida was very good at dissembling and diverting attention in a cheeky sort of way. He said similar things about Anupama (supposedly based on a cousin’s life story) and Abhiman (supposedly about one of his friends who had a problem with his wife and NOT any musical personalities’ personal lives).

When Namak Haraam was released, there was some loose talk about it being a direct copy of the 1964 English film Becket, updated for modern times. I can confirm that this supposed loose talk is more than true. The King becomes the Industrialist and the Head Priest/ Arch Bishop becomes the Industrial worker turned Union Leader. In both cases the King/ Industrialist places his friend in a position thinking that his “friend” would be his puppet. Predictably his friend, the supposed puppet, turns adversary, does what is morally right and not what is convenient for the King.

There is NO WAY that anyone can dismiss Namak Haraam as anything but an – er – inspiration of Becket. Yet, I find the Indianisation perfect and contemporary to the times in which it was set in. The early 1970s were filled with news of various industrial strikes across India due to labour unrest, fuelled by a perception that the ordinary industrial worker was not getting his dues and all the ‘profits’ from their labour were filling the coffers of their masters. The most famous or should we say infamous example of this was the textile strike of the late 1970s/ early 1980s that ultimately resulted in massive job losses and multiple textile mills in the area of Parel-Lower Parel-Mahalaxmi shutting down and never opening again. Today the land has been sold and most of them are made in to apartments or malls while the chawls in which the workers lived, still stand in their original semi dilapidated condition, cheek by jowl with the towers.

Coming back to Namak Haram. When it was released in 1973, the biggest indicator of Amitabh Bachchan’s rising stardom was as shown in the hair cutting salon which I used to visit. There was an “Amitabh cut”, complete with Amitabh’s photo and how the hairdressers would go about doing it.  This also was the second film in which Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan worked together. Hrishida also said in an interview that he had to keep the ending a secret as both stars wanted mileage out of the ending. Amitabh was supposedly upset that he didn’t get to ‘die’ onscreen.

Vicky as a character is fascinating at best; he cannot give up his friend and he wants to childishly hold on to him despite growing evidence that Somu is a different human from the friend with whom he used to go drinking, chasing women and indulging in extravaganzas he couldn’t afford and he knows that everything is paid for, by Vicky. Somu ‘grows up’ from something of a ‘chamcha’ as his locality calls him, to a ‘planted union leader’ designed to break the stranglehold of Bipin Lal the Union leader, to finally a human who realises where his moral duty as a Union Leader lies, which is to fight for the labourer’s rights.  In contrast, Vicky remains the same embittered somewhat childishly selfish person he always was. Only Somu’s death makes him see the light and he promises to set things right.

Becket’s story is somewhat similar. Becket’s King is bothered by The Church which keeps questioning his authority and wants him to submit to it. So, what better way to control it than to have his friend, a priest, be made the figurehead Arch Bishop whom he can control? While he thinks He, The King, is the law, the Arch Bishop soon starts countering saying that there is a HIGHER LAW that has to be obeyed and soon both are at loggerheads with each other.

So, which is the better version? This is incredibly difficult to answer.

Becket is the longer film and has some moments which we cannot relate to, especially the religious and historical angle. From that context alone, Namak Haram is easy to relate to due to the Indian milieu in which it is set, the focus on the friendships and of course music which forwards the story. The side plot of the drunk poet is something that is not there in the original film but is a perfect example of the localisation that was done, leading to an interesting song situation, the totally melancholic Mai shaayar badnaam.  A fleeting shot of the dying poet looking at Bipin Lal’s daughter leaves us with a question – is she the woman who ditched him, leading to his alcoholism, and his sad smile is a final thank you? Such ambiguity is there in many of Hrishida’s films and we can make whatever meanings we want out of it.

Both films begin in the same way. In the Hindi film, Vicky released from prison, goes home and is confronted by the photo of a smiling Somu. In the English film, the King reaches a mausoleum where the death mask of the Bishop has been kept; the King starts questioning the death mask. So right from the first scene, we know both the characters are dead. Immediately the film cuts to the past with both of them running away from a young girl’s farm loft, while being chased by the girl’s parents. Similar scene in the Hindi film except that in keeping with th1 1970s, the two work in a law firm and sketch their boss’s female secretary.  

Finally. Which is the better film? No. I am not going to answer that question but let you judge for yourself.

I would rate BOTH versions 5 out of 5 for direction, screenplay, dialogues and superb performances from the leads, namely Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole in the English original; Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in the respective Hindi roles.

Both films are free on You Tube

Namak Haram is free on You Tube https://youtu.be/2aZaJjoFFl8?t=2

Becket is free on You Tube  https://youtu.be/LMwgMDUjVf0?t=4

PS: I NEVER got an Amitabh haircut 😊