Artwork drawn from the title — how & why

The Extended Canon

Namak Haraam

नमक हराम · 1973

A mill owner's son infiltrates his own workers' union to break it, and is changed by the friend he was sent to betray.

Director
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Year
1973
Genre
Drama
Cast
Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha

Why it's in the canon

Class politics staged as a friendship, with two of the era's biggest stars on opposite sides.

A mill owner's son infiltrates his own workers' union to break it, and is changed by the friend he was sent to betray.

Namak Haraam sits in the 1970s alongside Sholay and Deewaar — a decade this canon treats as foundational.

The Bollywood 100

The essentials

If you liked this

More from the same corner of the canon