Mr. Natwarlal

Mr. Natwarlal
Film poster
Directed byRakesh Kumar
Written byGyandev Agnihotri(Story)
Kader Khan (Dialogue)
Rakesh Kumar (Screenplay)
Produced byTony Glaad
StarringAmitabh Bachchan
Rekha
Ajit
Kader Khan
Amjad Khan
CinematographyFali Mistry
Edited byWaman B. Bhosle
Gurudutt Shirali
Music byRajesh Roshan
Production
company
Navjeevan Productions
Release date
  • 8 June 1979 (1979-06-08)
Running time
148 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

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, Kader Khan, Amjad Khan and 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. Tony Glaad 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. Film and music expert Rajesh Subramanian reveals that Mere paas aao was to be recorded in the voice of Kishore Kumar but since Amitabh Bachchanwas planning a mega live concert abroad he wanted a song in his voice to perform live at the concerts hence it was sung by Bachchan.

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 film. Kabhi Kabhi earlier had Amitabh use spoken verse within a melodic song, but this was the first time he sang in a film. 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.