General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Dharam Karam (धरम करम)

Dharam Karam (धरम करम), also known in English as Duty and Deed, is a 1975 Hindi-language drama film directed by Randhir Kapoor and produced by Raj Kapoor under the R.K. Films banner, with music by R.D. Burman and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.¹^•² The story follows a career criminal who secretly swaps his newborn son with the baby of a wealthy entertainer, raising the question of whether destiny is written in a person's genes or shaped by environment.³

Key fact	Detail
Release	1 December 1975 (India); 9 August 1977 (Lisbon, Portugal)⁴
Director / producer	Randhir Kapoor (director); Raj Kapoor (producer), R.K. Films Ltd.²
Lead cast	Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rekha, Prem Nath, Dara Singh²
Music	R.D. Burman (composer); Majrooh Sultanpuri (lyricist)¹
Signature song	"Ek Din Bik Jayega," played four times in the film; Filmfare nominations for Best Lyricist (Sultanpuri) and Best Male Playback Singer (Mukesh)⁵
Runtime	2h 39m in most listings; ZEE5 lists 2h 34m⁶^•⁷
Writers and camera	Prayag Raj (story, screenplay, dialogue); Taru Dutt (cinematography)²

Spoilers

Plot

The film centers on Shankar Dada (Prem Nath), a hoodlum who lives in a shanty hut with his pregnant wife and tries to make a living as a career criminal.⁸ Not wishing his son to grow up like himself, he secretly swaps his baby for that of Ashok (Raj Kapoor), a famous and wealthy stage entertainer.³ The two boys' lives, and those of their fathers, eventually collide, and the story asks whether the boys' destiny is written in their genes or whether a change of environment can make a difference.³

The film answers that question hereditarily. A commentary in Yojana described its position: a son of a singer, even when brought up by a ruffian, remains as noble as the notes he sings, while the villain's son remains a villain despite his upbringing.⁹

Cast and characters

Raj Kapoor played the entertainer Ashok "Bonga Babu" Kumar, and Randhir Kapoor played Dharam, also known as Ranjit, so that the real father and son played the same relationship on screen.² Rekha played Basanti, Prem Nath played Shankar Dada, Dara Singh Randhawa played Bhim Singh, Pinchoo Kapoor played J.K., Narendra Nath played Ranjit A. Kumar, Urmila Bhatt played Ganga, and Alka played Neena.² Child roles included Satyajeet Puri as young Dharam, Baby Pinky as young Basanti, and Master Sailesh as young Ranjit.² Sonia Sahni appeared as Sonu A. Kumar, and Jagdish Raj played Inspector Nath.²

The story, screenplay, and dialogue were by Prayag Raj, cinematography was credited to Taru Dutt, and editing to Shanker Hurde.² A Hindi film review credits the cinematography instead to Radhu Karmakar, Raj Kapoor's longtime cameraman.¹⁰

Music

Rahul Dev Burman composed the score, with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri; a review describes this as Burman's first major collaboration under the R.K. banner.¹^•¹⁰ Songs on the soundtrack include "Baat Thi Yaar Ek Baar Ki," sung by Mukesh, "Na Ho Bas Mein," sung by Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, and Sushma, and "Tere Humsafar," sung by Mukesh, Asha Bhosle, and Kishore Kumar.¹¹ Playback singers on the film also included Lata Mangeshkar.²

"Ek Din Bik Jayega" is played four times during the film, with playback by Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, and Sushma Shrestha; Sultanpuri received a Filmfare nomination as Best Lyricist for it, and Mukesh received a Filmfare nomination as Best Male Playback Singer.⁵ The Apple Music release of the soundtrack lists nine songs totaling 41 minutes, on the Saregama label.¹²

Reception and legacy

The film holds a 5.7 rating on IMDb based on about 187 user votes.¹³ A contemporary retrospective commentary grouped 1975 as a year in which, in the archives of Hindi cinema, melody lost out to bloodshed, with Raj Kapoor among the producers whose work that year it records.¹⁴

The film also circulated internationally. A small double-sided poster in the London Museum collection, printed between 1976 and 1982, shows it was screened at the Liberty Cinema at 14 South Road, Southall, an area of London with a large Asian population, with the poster circulated by the Anglo Oriental Film Club.¹⁵ IMDb records a theatrical release in Lisbon, Portugal on 9 August 1977 through the distributor Filmes Sandro.⁴^•¹⁶

Availability

In India the film streams on Amazon Prime Video, VI movies and tv, and free with ads on ZEE5; in the United States it can be rented or bought on Amazon Video.¹³^•³ It is also carried on Airtel Xstream Play through ZEE5.¹⁷

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 1970s › Released 1970 to 1975

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

Notice something wrong?