General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Chori Mera Kaam (चोरी मेरा काम)

Chori Mera Kaam (चोरी मेरा काम, "Stealing Is My Business") is a 1975 Hindi comedy film directed by Brij and starring Ashok Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, and Pran. It was released in India on 2 May 1975, runs 165 minutes, and was produced under the Sadanah Brothers banner by Chander Sadanah.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Release	2 May 1975 (India); censor certificate dated 30 April 1975, number 78617¹^•²
Director / producer	Brij (Brij Sadanah); producer Chander Sadanah, banner Sadanah Brothers²^•³
Lead cast	Ashok Kumar (Shankar), Shashi Kapoor (Bholanath), Zeenat Aman (Sharmili), Pran (Inspector Samadh Kumar)³
Genres	Comedy, musical, romance¹
Runtime / rating	165 minutes; certified U²
Music	Kalyanji Veerji Shah and Anandji Veerji Shah; lyrics by Verma Malik⁴
Award	Deven Verma won the 1976 Filmfare Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role for this film⁵

Spoilers

Plot

The film follows two thieves, Bholanath (Shashi Kapoor) and Sharmili (Zeenat Aman), who run away with a manuscript containing stealing tips and sell it to Parvin, an unscrupulous publisher. When the book, titled Chori Mera Kaam, becomes a nationwide best seller, the pair fall into trouble as the publication attracts unwanted attention from the police, the local mob, and the manuscript's original writer.⁶^•⁷

A fuller synopsis from Moviebuff adds the family thread: Bhola Nath is a petty criminal working with his former lover Sharmili, and is unknowingly the illegitimate son of a police officer named Kumar (Pran), who has been tracking the gangster Amarchand Rathore. Bhola was abducted as a boy by Rathore's henchmen, escaped, and was raised by the veteran thief Mr. John (David Abraham).⁷ The film's official press booklet, quoted by Cinemaazi, frames the story around a Police Commissioner who sacrifices his own son for duty, is branded a wanted criminal, and turns into the killer "Shera", alongside the crime-collecting mastermind played by Ashok Kumar.²

Cast and crew

The credited cast includes Ashok Kumar as Shankar, Shashi Kapoor as Bholanath, Zeenat Aman as Sharmili, Pran as Inspector Samadh Kumar, Deven Verma as the publisher Parveen Chandra Shah, Iftekhar as the Police Commissioner, Raza Murad as Inspector Shyam Kumar, Anwar Hussain as Amarchand Rathod, M. B. Shetty, and Anoop Kumar as a constable.³

Behind the camera, K.A. Narayan wrote the story and screenplay, Ehsan Rizvi wrote the dialogue, Anwar Siraj was the director of photography, Wamanrao edited the film, and Manzoor Amrohi handled art direction.⁶ The shooting locations were Filmistan, Fimalaya, and Famous Studios.²

Music

The score is by the composing duo Kalyanji Veerji Shah and Anandji Veerji Shah, with lyrics by Verma Malik.⁴ The Indian Film Music Database SwarDB lists eight songs, sung mainly by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle, with Amit Kumar also appearing; the title track "Chori Mera Kaam" is a Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle duet, and "The Borivili Episode" is performed on screen by Shashi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, and Deven Verma.⁸

Recognition and afterlife

At the Filmfare Awards for 1976, Deven Verma won Best Actor in a Comic Role for his performance in the film.⁵ The film is referenced in the 1981 film Ek Duuje Ke Liye, according to its IMDb connections listing.⁴

The film remains available: as of recent listings it streams in India on JioHotstar and ShemarooMe free with ads, and in the United States on Xumo Play.⁹^•¹⁰ A different film with the same title exists: a 1978 Urdu-language Pakistani action film directed by Iqbal Kashmiri, and the 1999 Telugu film Raja starring Venkatesh and Soundarya is known by Chori Mera Kaam as its Hindi-dubbed title.¹¹^•¹²

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026