Manoranjan (1974): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1974, Manoranjan is a comedy and romance film directed by Shammi Kapoor, running about 162 minutes.

What it’s about. Havaldar Ratan is a rookie at the local police station, and is assigned duty on foot patrol on Manoranjan Street, a notorious red-light area, on the very first day of his job. He strikes up a conversation with a good-looking young woman named Nisha, and tells her that there is a possible violation of Suppression of Immoral Trafficking Act taking place on this street. He witnesses several women soliciting men, and decides to call in the paddy wagon, and get them arrested. Alas, one of the men frequenting the prostitutes is none other than Ratan's superior officer, who immediately summons Ratan, and has him removed from service on corruption charges. Nisha takes pity on a homeless and unemployed Ratan, and asks him to live with her. He does not want her to sell her body, and so he decides to work at night, and during the day he takes on the guise of a rich Nawab and spends time with her.

Who’s in it. Manoranjan stars Shammi Kapoor as Dhoop Chhaon, Sanjeev Kumar as Constable Ratan 'Sheru', Zeenat Aman as Nisha and Dev Kumar as Balram, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.3/10, Manoranjan has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Netflix and Netflix Standard with Ads. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Manoranjan page.

If you liked it. Fans of Manoranjan tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, Life Is Beautiful and Fight Club.