The King of the Street Cleaners

Apti works as a street cleaner in a crowded Istanbul neighborhood, earning little but keeping the streets clean. His superior, Şakir, is a corrupt and abrasive Zabıta officer who constantly berates him for minor offenses and uses him to run errands for Şakir's mother. Apti is secretly in love with Hacer, but her relationship with Şakir makes his pursuit seem hopeless.

Hacer is a feisty house cleaner who captures Apti's heart, but her life is complicated by an ongoing affair with Şakir. Apti's attempts to court her usually fail because of the affair. The love triangle sets the stage for later conflicts.

Hacer's father, tired of Şakir's indecision, decides to secure Hacer's future with Apti. Apti visits Hacer's house and, despite his lack of confidence, the father allows the marriage. The engagement is arranged amid skepticism from those around them.

When Şakir learns of the engagement, he attacks Apti and forces him to catch all the cats in the neighborhood as revenge. He also has Hacer's brothers arrested. The cruelty marks Şakir's power and threatens Apti's chance at happiness.

Hacer attacks Şakir but the two briefly reconcile during the fight when Şakir promises to persuade his mother. Apti watches with a mix of relief and apprehension about what comes next. The tension between love and control remains unresolved.

Şakir tries again to persuade his overbearing mother to accept the marriage, but she refuses once more. In a volatile outburst, he attempts to push her out of a window; she survives after landing on Apti. The incident exposes the danger underlying the feud.

Next evening, Apti visits Hacer's house to finalize the marriage, only to find Şakir and his mother there pressing for Hacer's hand. Hacer's father repeats the preference for a wealthier municipal official over a street cleaner. Apti is left humiliated and the engagement is effectively scuttled.

Apti storms off in anger, flinging flowers to the ground and walking away while eating lokum. The moment becomes infamous and signals his resolve to reinvent himself. The humiliation marks a turning point in his outlook on love and status.

İsmail, Apti's doorman friend, convinces him to kidnap and have sex with Hacer so her father would have no choice but to marry him. Apti sneaks into Hacer's house and attempts to rape her, but is quickly beaten back by Hacer's kid brother. He escapes, chased by Hacer's father and brothers.

Apti accidentally ends up in a nightclub and finds himself on stage. In panic, he improvises by singing popular folk songs, and the crowd cheers for him. The owner of the nightclub hires him as the lead singer, changing the course of his life.

Posters with Apti's face fill the town as rumors of his new status spread. Hacer falls ill after the tumult of the past months, and Apti's popularity clashes with personal resentments. His singing debut is a disaster—he clumsily causes accidents on stage and is fired, returning to his previous job as a garbage man.

Some time later, Hacer and Şakir are married but their life remains unhappy, and Apti feels relief at having avoided that fate. He notices another young cleaner at a nearby window, suggesting that he might find love again in the future. The film closes on a note of cautious optimism for Apti's next chapter.