''Roti Kapada Aur Makaan'' (; occasionally written as ''Roti Kapda Aur Makaan'') is a 1974 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language action drama film written, directed, and produced by

Manoj Kumar Manoj Kumar (born Harikrishan Giri Goswami; 24 July 1937 – 4 April 2025) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful actors in t ...

, who also plays the leading role in the film. The title of the movie is based on the Hindi phrase, which refers to the bare necessities of life, popularized in the late 1960s by former Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

, ahead of the 1967 general elections. The film is about a family that Bharat (Manoj Kumar) attempts to provide for after falling into a financial struggle. The film also stars

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

as Vijay, the brother of Bharat, and stars Zeenat Aman as Sheetal, Bharat's love interest,

Moushumi Chatterjee Moushumi Chatterjee is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Hindi films during the 1970s. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019; she was previously a member of ...

as Tulsi, a friend of Bharat in poverty, and Shashi Kapoor as Mohan Babu, a wealthy businessman. It has been remade into the Telugu film '' Jeevana Poratam'', and is still considered to be highly influential, and one of the best

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films of its era.

Plot

After the retirement of his father ( Krishan Dhawan), it falls upon Bharat (

) to look after his

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

-based family. He has two younger college-going brothers, Vijay (

) and Deepak ( Dheeraj Kumar) and a sister of marriageable age, Champa (Meena T.). Although Bharat is a college graduate, the only work he can find is as a low-paid singer, much to the frustration of his girlfriend, Sheetal ( Zeenat Aman). Meanwhile, Vijay has turned to crime as a last resort to provide for the family, but after an argument with Bharat, he leaves home to join the army. Sheetal starts working as a secretary for rich businessman Mohan Babu ( Shashi Kapoor) and Mohan becomes attracted to her. Sheetal loves Bharat but cannot contemplate a life in poverty. Bharat finally finds a job as a builder but starts to realise that Sheetal is slowly drifting away from him. Soon he loses his job after the government takes over the building site and his financial problems increase. When Mohan proposes marriage, Sheetal accepts, leaving Bharat heartbroken. Bharat loses his father soon after and is left devastated. He burns his

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

on his father's funeral pyre in frustration, . Meanwhile, Champa has found a suitor, but Bharat has no money to pay for the wedding. Depressed at the state of his life, Bharat soon finds salvation by helping Tulsi (

) who lives in poverty. He also makes friends with Sardar Harnam Singh ( Prem Nath) who comes to his rescue when he attempts to save Tulsi from a gang of hoodlums. He then receives an offer from a corrupt businessman named Nekiram (

Madan Puri Madan Puri (30 September 1915 – 13 January 1985) was an Indian actor of Hindi and Punjabi films. His brothers were actors Chaman Puri and Amrish Puri. As a character actor mainly in negative roles (villain), he acted in about 430 films in ...

) who persuades Bharat to do his illegal activities so he and his family will come out of poverty, and he accepts. Deepak joins the police force. Bharat, who is working for Nekiram, decides to inform the police about his malpractices. Nekiram finds out and frames Bharat instead. Deepak is the police officer appointed for arresting Bharat. Vijay joins forces with Bharat to stop Nekiram. During this conflict Sheetal, who is regretting her mistake of choosing wealth over her love, sacrifices her life. Bharat, Vijay, Deepak, Mohan Babu and Sardar Harnam Singh get Nekiram and his troops jailed in the end. Bharat sees Sheetal in Tulsi and accepts her as his wife.

Cast

as Bharat * Shashi Kapoor as Mohan Babu * Zeenat Aman as Sheetal * Moushmi Chatterjee as Tulsi *

as Vijay * Prem Nath as Harnam Singh * Dheeraj Kumar as Deepak * Kamini Kaushal as Bharat's mother *

Aruna Irani Aruna Irani (born 18 August 1946) is an Indian actress, who has acted in over 500 films throughout Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati cinema, playing mostly supporting and character roles. She received two Filmfare Awards for Best Support ...

as Poonam *

as Nekiram * Krishan Dhawan as Bharat's father *Meena T as Champa * Sulochana as Mohan's mother *

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Hindi films. He has acted in over 250 Hindi films and has also appeared in Bhojpuri, Punjabi and other languages and on Hindi television. Early life He is the so ...

as Hamid Miya *

Raj Mehra Raj Mehra (born 20 May 1913 – 10 April 1993) was an Indian character artist and film actor in Hindi language films, especially known for his role as a father of leading actors. During his career, he worked in over 300 Hindi films. Some of hi ...

* Manmohan * C S Dubey *Darshan Lal *Brahm Bhardwaj as Ramchand

Soundtrack

The music was composed by the duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal and lyrics by Santosh Anand. Lyrics of "Mehngai Mar Gayi", "Hay Hay Yeh Majboori" and "Panditji Mere Marne Ke" were written by Verma Malik.

Reception

This film was a major commercial success, emerging as the highest grossing Indian film of 1974, and was declared an all time blockbuster. The film received three

Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...

awards, as well as being nominated for eleven others.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0072100, title=Roti Kapada Aur Makaan 1974 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Films about social realism Films set in Delhi Hindi films remade in other languages Films directed by Manoj Kumar Filmfare Awards winners