Haath Ki Safai (; a euphemism for pickpocketing) is a 1974

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film, written by

Salim–Javed Salim–Javed were an Indian screenwriting duo, composed of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, working in Bollywood. They are noted for being the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status, becoming the most successful Indian screenwriters o ...

, produced by I.A Nadiadwala, and directed by

Prakash Mehra Prakash Mehra (13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009) was a legendary Indian film director and producer known for his work in Hindi films. He was one of the pioneers of masala films, along with Nasir Hussain, and Manmohan Desai. His collaborations with ...

. The film stars

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

Randhir Kapoor Randhir Raj Kapoor (born 15 February 1947) is an Indian actor, film producer and director who worked in Hindi cinema. He was an established actor of the 1970s and received two Filmfare Award nominations. However, his career declined in the ear ...

and

Vinod Khanna Vinod Khanna (6 October 1946 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who is best known for his work in Hindi films; while also being a notable spiritual seeker. In Bollywood, he was the recipient of two Filmfare awa ...

, who won the

Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the awards start ...

, the only nomination and win for the film. The rest of the cast includes

Simi Garewal Simi Garewal (born Simrita Garewal; 17 October 1947) is an Indian actress, director, producer and a talk show host. She is the recipient of two Filmfare awards and an ITA Award. She is known for her work in Hindi films like ''Do Badan'', '' Saa ...

Ranjeet Ranjeet Bedi (born 13 September 1942 as Gopal Bedi) popularly known as Ranjeet, is an Indian actor and film director born in Jandiala Guru near Amritsar (Punjab), best known for his work in Bollywood.Singh, Nonika (1999)Ranjeet's triple love" ...

and Satyen Kappu. The music is by

Kalyanji Anandji Kalyanji Virji Shah (30 June 1928 – 24 August 2000) was the ''Kalyanji'' of the Kalyanji-Anandji duo. He and his brother Anandji Virji Shah have been famous Indian film musicians, and won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, f ...

. The film became a "semi-hit" at the box office. The film was later remade in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

as '' Manushulu Chesina Dongalu'' (1976) and in Tamil as ''

Savaal ''Savaal'' () is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by R. Krishnamoorthy, starring Kamal Haasan, Jaishankar, Vijayakumar, Sripriya and Lakshmi. The film was released on 3 July 1981 and did well at the box office. It is a remak ...

'' (1981).

Plot

Two brothers get separated when fleeing from their village and reach Mumbai. Raju is led to a crook Usmanbhai Bombay and becomes a pickpocket under his tutelage. The elder, Shankar becomes a crime-boss. Shankar is popularly known as Kumar in his circle and is married to Roma, who is pregnant with their child. Roma is unaware of his criminal activities. He runs a hotel as a cover for his criminal activities and is mostly involved in smuggling gold and diamonds. Kamini is an orphaned girl, living with her crook uncle Chopra. For a dance show she arrives at Mumbai with her troupe and is robbed of her purse by a pickpocket. Raju retrieves her purse from another pickpocket Raghu only to steal her expensive necklace. Kamini's uncle owes one million rupees to another criminal, Ranjeet (Ranjeet). In order to pay his debt he advises Ranjeet to marry Kamini, so that he can inherit her wealth worth five million. Kamini runs away from her home. In order to trace her, Ranjeet advertises in a newspaper that Kamini has run away from home with jewellery worth one million. Raju is the first one to trace her and entices her to an isolated bungalow. Here, Kamini confesses her love for Raju, but he is indifferent and pretends to love her in return. He secretly checks all her baggage for jewellery and is disappointed to find that she has none. Shankar is able to trace Raju and trades Kamini for 10,000. Kamini is heartbroken with the reality. Ranjeet pays off Shankar for Kamini, while Kamini slips past his custody just in time. Coincidentally, she seeks shelter at Shankar's home and Roma learns much about him. She is shocked and tries to kill herself. Shankar assumes that she has killed herself, but is saved by Raju in the nick of time and takes her home. Since she is pregnant, the doctor advises her to rest. Shankar is heartbroken and vows to give up all his criminal activities. He also gives shelter to Kamini and keeps her at his home. Kamini respects Shankar for his gesture and treats him like an elder brother. He returns the money to Ranjeet, which infuriates him and he wants revenge. Meanwhile, Kamini has a change of heart towards Raju when she learns that Raju has given up his pickpocketing and wants to lead a dignified life with her. Ranjeet decides to use Raju as a pawn to exact revenge. Through Raju, he manages to have Shankar arrested in an attempt to smuggle gold (his old commitment and final job), but Shankar somehow manages to hide the gold before being arrested. In order to create a rift between Kamini and Raju, he tells her that Raju got Shankar arrested. Kamini straight away goes to his home to find the truth and comes across Roma and her newborn baby. Kamini tells Roma that Shankar is truly sorry for his acts and has given up all his criminal activities. Kamini inform Shankar that Roma is alive and has their baby. Ranjeet manages to kidnap Kamini and desires to marry her. Kamini reveals that she has not inherited any wealth and her uncle was lying to him. Ranjeet then plans to trade her with Shankar for the smuggled gold. Shankar escapes the prison to see his wife. He encounters Raju and Raju is able to nab him and tie him up. Raju trades Shankar for Kamini and returns home with the purse he had pocketed of Shankar. At home, when he checks the contents he realises that Shankar is his long lost brother and goes to save Shankar. The film ends with a typical Bollywood climax, where Raju is able to save Shankar and Ranjeet is killed in the ensuing fight.

Cast

as Kamini Chopra *

as Shankar/Kumar Sahab *

as Raju Tardev *

as Roma *

as Ranjeet *

Sapru (actor) Daya Kishan Sapru (16 March 1916 – 20 October 1979), was an Indian actor famed for a variety of character roles in Hindi cinema, particularly villains, judges and aristocrats in crime thrillers and dramas. His most notable performances were in ...

as Baba Sheikh *

Satyen Kappu Satyendra Kappu (born Satyendra Sharma; also credited as Satyen Kappu; 7 February 1931 – 27 October 2007), was an Indian character actor in Bollywood films. He has acted in 390 films. His most remembered role is Ramlal in the movie ''Sholay'' ...

as Usmanbhai Bombay *Master Ripple as young Raju *Master Ashiq as young Shankar *Ram Mohan as Ram singh *

Viju Khote Viju Khote (17 December 1941 – 30 September 2019) was an Indian actor who was known for his work in more than 440 films in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He was famous as the dacoit ''Kaalia'' in the film ''Sholay'' and the dialogue, "Sardar m ...

as Damodar *

Ruby Myers Ruby Myers (1907 – 10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana, was an Indian silent film actress of Jewish ancestry, from the community of Baghdadi Jews in India. In her heyday she was one of the highest paid actresses of h ...

as Aunty, local bar owner *Mushtaq Merchant as Johny *

Ram Sethi Ram Sethi (born 15 November 1938), also known as Pyaare-laal, is an Indian actor who works in the Bollywood industry. Sethi has worked in many films as a main or supporting character in his long career of 6 decades. Biography Ram Sethi (Pyarel ...

as Totaram *

Randhir (actor) Randhir was an Indian character actor in Hindi and Punjabi films who was active from the 1940s to the 1980s. He appeared in over 172 films. Originally, he played side heroes or the friend of the hero. On a few occasions, he even played the her ...

as Chopra, Kamini's uncle *

Goga Kapoor Ravinder Kapoor (15 December 1940 – 3 March 2011), popularly known as Goga Kapoor, was an Indian actor, who appeared mostly in Bollywood films. He has acted in over 120 films, majorly known for playing supporting roles of that of villain's h ...

as Raghu

Soundtrack

''Peene Wale Ko Peene Ka Bahana'' is about the play ''Devdas'' with

as Devdas and

as Chandramukhi. Lyrics were penned down by Gulshan Kumar Mehta with his pen-name, Gulshan Bawra. Vaada Karle Sajna is the most popular song of the film by Mohd Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar.

References

External links

* {{Prakash Mehra 1975 films 1970s Hindi-language films Films directed by Prakash Mehra Films scored by Kalyanji Anandji Hindi films remade in other languages Films with screenplays by Salim–Javed 1970s Urdu-language films Urdu films remade in other languages Urdu-language Indian films