Three unmarried sisters live in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh with their old mother, Jugni (Waheeda Rehman), a former nautanki (folk theatre) dancer, who sells spices and takes in boarders to make a living. The three daughters are named like flavors in food. The 'salty' eldest daughter Nimki (Sharmila Tagore), is a reserved spinster, quietly but firmly holding the household together. The 'sweet' middle sister is Mitthu (Shabana Azmi) who cannot speak, but is revealed to be an intelligent and romantic girl. The 'tangy' youngest one is Chinki (Kiran Vairale), a bold and vibrant teenager, who turns out to be more perceptive than one would credit her to be. Their quiet little haven is occasionally threatened by the alcoholic father Kishanlal (Kishanlal), a sarangi player who was on the travelling troupe with Jugni, and keeps attempting to reclaim his daughters. She left him years ago to protect her daughters from the life of a nautanki dancer which she always struggled to escape.

All four live in a very old house outside the village. Gerulal (Sanjeev Kumar) is a truck driver who joins this peculiar household for a brief time as a tenant. Initially stunned by their less than friendly ways and unsocial demeanor, he grows to respect the women as he watches the difficulties they struggle with every day. He finds that even among the crisis of money and facilities, all the sisters are capable of maintaining moral values and diginified behavior towards the outer world. He begins to like Nimki. But somehow Mitthu, whom he sympathizes and befriends, seems to have feelings for Gerulal. When Gerulal needs to move on from that region because of work, he proposes to Nimki. But she turns down his proposal citing the responsibility of her sisters and her mother, and asks him to marry Mithu instead - a request he cannot comply with.

Three years later, Gerulal is shocked to find Chinki performing at a village nautanki. From her he learns how drastically things changed after he left - Mitthu lost her mental balance and committed suicide, Jugni died of the shock and Chinki, with not much left to choose from, joined her father's troupe. Gerulal rushes back to Jugni's crumbling old house to find Nimki, alone and aged beyond her years, almost a reflection of her mother. This time, he takes her away with him.

The main characters of the movie are Gerulal and Nimki. Gerulal was depicted as a thread who brought together all the sporadic pearls of that family. Nimki is a person who is always ready to sacrifice and she always puts her interests after her sisters and mother. This is why she refuses to marry Gerulal.

• Sanjeev Kumar: Gerulal
• Sharmila Tagore: Nimki
• Shabana Azmi: Mithu
• Kiran Vairale: Chinki
• Waheeda Rehman: Jyoti (Jugni)
• Ram Mohan
• T.P Jain: Dhaniram
• Kamaldeep

Originally Rekha was cast in the role of Nimki, which was later played by Sharmila Tagore.

The film was released on Doordarshan, India's National TV network in 1982 as it did not find any distributors, as did another film of the decade Libaas (1988), which never had a commercial release.^[6] Film's DVD version was released in 1998,^[7] and had a different ending, with ending of the original cut, where Girulal comes back to find an almost empty home, edited out.^[8][9]

Namkeen was featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed

The soundtrack was composed R. D. Burman and lyrics by Gulzar, and featured songs by playback singers Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle. Though "Raah Pe Rahte Hai", sung by Kishore Kumar got noticed, and stood out for its lyrics being based on the life for truck drivers, it was "Baankee Chalee Zhaankee Chalee" and "Phir Se Aaiyo Badaraa Bidesee", both sung by Asha Bhonsle that remained film's memorable songs.

• 1983 National Film Awards
  • Best Audiography: Essabhai M. Suratwala
• 1983: Filmfare Award
  • Best Story: Samaresh Basu
  • Best Art Direction: Ajit Banerjee
  • Best Supporting Actress: Waheeda Rehman as "Jugni": Nominated
  • Best Supporting Actress: Kiran Vairale as "Chinki": Nominated