Mr. Natwarlal

Not to be confused with Natwarlal.

Mr. Natwarlal
Film poster
Directed by	Rakesh Kumar
Produced by	Tony
Written by	Gyandev Agnihotri(Story) Kader Khan (Dialogue) Rakesh Kumar (Screenplay)
Starring	Amitabh Bachchan Rekha Ajit Khan Kader Khan Amjad Khan
Music by	Rajesh Roshan
Cinematography	Fali Mistry
Edited by	Waman B. Bhosle Gurudutt Shirali
Release date	June 8, 1979
Running time	148 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Mr. Natwarlal is a 1979 Indian Hindi action comedy film produced by Tony Glaad (as "Tony") and directed by Rakesh Kumar. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Ajit Khan and Amjad Khan. The music is by Rajesh Roshan, the songs are written by Anand Bakshi. The highlight of the film was a children's song sung by Amitabh Bachchan. Ishraq-Suja, known for writing a novel named "Shadman & Zarin er Bhalobasha", made their first film writing debut with this film. Tony decided to take them as the writers of the film. The film was shot in Kashmir with most of the shooting done in Beerwah, Jammu and Kashmir

The name of the film and lead character were inspired by a notorious Indian conman, Natwarlal.

Getting Amitabh to sing was a gimmick that was tried for the first time in this movie. Kabhi Kabhi earlier had Amitabh use spoken verse within a melodic song, but this was the first time he sang in a movie. This was subsequently copied by other filmmakers in films like Laawaris, Silsila and Pukar.

As per a trade guide, which was premium box-office publication in the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Natwarlal was a " Super Hit". In today's lenient classification system, Mr. Natwarlal is easily a blockbuster.

Plot

Natwar is a young boy, when his beloved older brother and caretaker, police officer Gridharilal (Ajit Khan), is framed for bribery by sinister criminal mastermind Vikram (Amjad Khan). When he grows up, Natwar (Amitabh Bachchan) creates a secret identity for himself, posing as a powerful and mysterious underworld figure named Mr. Natwarlal, determined to slowly but surely exact vengeance on Vikram. Gridharilal does not understand his motifs and develops a grudge against him. Natwar learns from Mickey, an infamous underworld figure and Vikram's former ally, who is posing as a burnt man, that Vikram is in a village called Chandanpur and wants a diamond necklace, which is in the possession of Fakirchand, one of Mickey's allies. Natwar steals the necklace, unknown to everyone present there and leaves for Chandanpur, after apologising to an asleep Gridharilal about the troubles he has given to him. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Mickey also wants to extract revenge on Vikram for betraying him. He reveals that Vikram is terrorising the villagers using a tiger. Meanwhile, Natwar arrives at Chandanpur, disguised as Avtaar Singh, a hunter whom Vikram had already killed, unknown to everyone.

Music

The music was composed by Rajesh Roshan and the lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi.

Rajesh Roshan was nominated for Best Music Director award for the film; Laxmikant Pyarelal received the award for Sargam that year.

Song	Singer(s)
"Oonchi Oonchi Baaton"	Mohammad Rafi & Usha Mangeshkar
"Pardesia"	Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar
"Qayamat Hai"	Mohammad Rafi & Anuradha Paudwal
"Tauba Tauba"	Asha Bhonsle
"Mere Paas Aao"	Amitabh Bachchan

The song "Pardesia Pardesia" by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar of this movie was popular, besides "Onnchi Onnchi Baaton" by Mohammad Rafi and Usha Mangeshkar. Amitabh has a solo number on his own; "Mere Paas Aao". The song "Mere Paas Aao" was the first song sung by Amitabh Bachchan in Bollywood.