Shree 420

About the film

Shree 420 (also spelled as Shri 420; transl. Mr. 420) is a 1955 Indian Hindi comedy-drama film directed and produced by Raj Kapoor from a story written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas whose use of Shree with the negative connotations of 420 caused controversy. The film stars Nargis, Nadira, and Kapoor. The number 420 refers to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes the punishment for the offence of fraud; hence, "Mr. 420" is a derogatory term for a fraudster. The film centers on Raj Kapoor, a poor but educated orphan who comes to Bombay with dreams of success. Kapoor's character is influenced by Charlie Chaplin's "little tramp", much like Kapoor's character in his 1951 Awaara. The music was composed by the team of Shankar Jaikishan, and the lyrics were penned by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.

Shree 420 was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1955, the highest grossing Indian film of all time at the time of its release and the song "Mera Joota Hai Japani" ("My Shoes are Japanese"), sung by Mukesh, became popular and a patriotic symbol of the newly independent India. The movie had numerous other hit songs like "Pyaar hua ikrar hua", a duet with Nargis sung in monsoon old Bombay.

Plot

Raj (Raj Kapoor), a country boy from Allahabad, travels to the big city, Bombay, by walking, to earn a living. He falls in love with the poor but virtuous Vidya (Nargis), but is soon seduced by the riches of a freewheeling and unethical lifestyle presented to him by an unscrupulous and dishonest businessman, Seth Sonachand Dharmanand (Nemo) and the sultry temptress Maya (Nadira). He eventually becomes a confidence trickster, or "420," who even cheats in card gambling. Vidya tries hard to make Raj a good man, but fails.

Meanwhile, Sonachand comes up with a Ponzi scheme to exploit poor people, whereby he promises permanent homes to them at just Rs. 100. The scheme pays off, as people start hoarding money for a home, even at the cost of other important things. Vidya's contempt for Raj increases even more. Raj becomes wealthy but soon realizes that he paid a very high price for it. When Raj discovers that Sonachand has no plans to fulfill his promises, he decides to make wrongs right.

Raj takes all the bond papers of the people's homes and tries to flee Sonachand's home, only to be caught by Sonachand and his cronies. In a scuffle that occurs, Sonachand shoots Raj and he falls unconscious. When people hear the shooting, they come and see Raj nearly dead. Sonachand tells the police that Raj was trying to flee after stealing money from his safe, hence Sonachand shot him.

Allusions

The title refers to section 420 of the Indian penal code, where crimes of theft and deception are punished, which relates to the troubles of the main character.

In Sanskrit, the name of the main character, "Vidya", means knowledge, while "Maya" means Illusion.

The title of one of the songs in the movie is "Ramaiya Vastavaiya" is in Telugu, which means "Ramaiya, come quickly". Apart from that, the rest of the song's lyrics (and the film) are in Hindi.

Production

Raj Kapoor's real-life children Randhir, Ritu and Rishi were featured in the song "Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua", Rishi revealed that Nargis bribed him with chocolate and recalled it in a 2017 interview.

Reception

The song "Mera Joota Hai Japani", in which the singer asserts his pride in being an Indian, despite his clothes being from other countries, became, and remains, a patriotic favourite among many Indians. It is often referenced, including in an acceptance speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2006 by Bengali author Mahasweta Devi.

The film proved to be popular in other countries, including the Soviet Union, Romania, and Israel. In Russia, it was said that Raj Kapoor was as popular as Jawaharlal Nehru, due to the success of Awaara and Shree 420. In Israel, the song "Ichak Dana Beechak Dana" (transliterated as "Ichikidana") became popular and was re-recorded by local singer Naim Rajuan.

In 2023, Time Out ranked it #23 on its list of the "100 Best Bollywood Movies."

Soundtrack

The song "Mera Joota Hai Japani" was reused in the 2016 American English-language film Deadpool.

Awards

1956: Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film in Hindi

Key details