Shree 420

Shri 420

Original poster
Directed by Raj Kapoor
Produced by Raj Kapoor
Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
V.P. Sathe
Starring Raj Kapoor
Nargis
Nadira
Music by Shankar-Jaikishan
Cinematography Radhu Karmakar
Edited by G.G. Mayekar
Release date
  • 16 September 1955 (1955-09-16)
Running time
 168 minutes
Country India
Language Hindi
Box office ₹4.94 crore (US$10.38 million)

Shree 420 (Hindi श्री ४२०, translation: Sir 420, also transliterated as Shri 420) is a 1955 Hindi film, directed and produced by Raj Kapoor, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, and starring Raj Kapoor and Nargis. The number 420 refers to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes the punishment for the offence of cheating; hence, "Mr. 420" is a derogatory term for a cheat. The film centers on Raj, 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.

Shree 420 was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1955,[1] 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.

Plot

A country boy, Raj (Raj Kapoor), 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.[2]

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 Sonachands 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 police that Raj was trying to flee after stealing money from his safe, hence Sonachand shot him.

Upon this, the 'dead' Raj springs back to life and using pure logic, proves Sonachand's guilt. Sonachand and his partners are arrested, while Vidya happily forgives Raj. The film ends with Raj saying "Yeh 420 nahin, shree 420 hain" ("These are not simply con men, they are respectable con men").

Cast

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 'Lord Ram, you will come'. The title alone is derived from an old Telugu folk song. Apart from that, rest of the song's lyrics (and the film) are in Hindi.

At the beginning of the movie, the main protagonist explains to a policeman that one needs to stand on one's head to make sense of this world. He mentions that this is the reason why even great leaders stand on their heads. This is an allusion to a number of political leaders of that time who enjoyed practicing the Shirshasana, a yoga asana where one stands on his head. In his autobiography, Nehru described that the shirshasana was his favorite pose, and how he often did the shirshasana in jail too.

Production

"I had to give a shot and it was raining that day. It was difficult for crew to make me prepare for the shot. I had just to walk without any expression. It was Nargis who came up with the idea to offer me chocolate to get the shot done. In that sense, I started taking bribes when I was two-year-old,.

 – Rishi Kapoor, January 20, 2017

Raj Kapoor's real life children include Rishi make special appearance in the song Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua, Rishi revealed that Nargis bribed him for chocolate and recall in 2017 interview [3]

Reception

Worldwide gross
Territory Gross
India ₹3.9 crore[4] (US$8.19 million)[n 1] in 1955
US$73 million (₹490 crore)[6] in 2016
Soviet Union 8.75 million SUR[n 2] (US$2.19 million,[n 3] ₹1.04 crore)[n 1] in 1956
US$19 million (₹128 crore)[6] in 2016
Worldwide ₹4.94 crore (US$10.38 million) in 1956
₹618 crore (US$92 million) in 2016

At the Indian box office in 1955, the film grossed ₹3.9 crore (equivalent to ₹296 crore or US$46 million in 2016), with a net income of ₹2 crore (equivalent to ₹152 crore or US$24 million in 2016).[4] This record was beaten two years later by Mother India in 1957.[10]

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. It was released in the Soviet Union in 1956, coming second on the Soviet box office charts that year.[11] Despite being imported at an unusually high price, it was the most successful foreign film of the year at the Soviet box office, drawing an audience of 35 million viewers.[7] 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.

Soundtrack

# Title Singer(s) LyricistLength
1 "Dil Ka Haal Sune Dilwaala" Manna Dey Shailendra 5:36
2 "Ichak Dana Beechak Dana" Mukesh, Lata MangeshkarHasrat Jaipuri 5:08
3 "Mera Juta Hai Japani" Mukesh Shailendra 4:33
4 "Mudh Mudh Ke Na Dekh" Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey Shailendra 6:34
5 "O Janewale" Lata MangeshkarHasrat Jaipuri 2:20
6 "Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua" Lata Mangeshkar, Manna DeyShailendra 4:22
7 "Ramaiya Vastavaiya" Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, MukeshShailendra 6:10
8 "Sham Gayi Raat Aayi" Lata Mangeshkar Hasrat Jaipuri 4:00

Awards

Notes

  1. 1 2 4.7619 Indian rupees per US dollar from 1950 to 1965[5]
  2. ↑ 35 million Soviet tickets sold,[7] average ticket price of 25 kopecks[8]
  3. ↑ 4 Soviet rubles per US dollar from 1950 to 1960[9]

References

  1. ↑ Archived 12 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Shree 420 - Full movie". www.youku.com. RK Films / You Ku. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  3. ↑ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/did-shree-420-role-only-after-a-chocolate-bribe-rishi/1/862297.html
  4. 1 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20131030022739/www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=161&catName=MTk1NQ==
  5. ↑ http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/etc/USDpages.pdf#page=3
  6. 1 2 67.175856 INR per USD in 2016
  7. 1 2 A Taste for Indian Films: Negotiating Cultural Boundaries in Post-Stalinist Soviet Society, page 163, Indiana University, 2005
  8. ↑ Moscow Prime Time: How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War, page 48, Cornell University Press, 2011
  9. ↑ Archive of Bank of Russia http://cbr.ru/currency_base/OldDataFiles/USD.xls
  10. ↑ "B-Town rewind: The tale of the first Bollywood crore - Entertainment". Mid-day.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  11. ↑ Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas: The Culture of Movie-going After Stalin, page 86, Indiana University Press, 2005
  12. ↑ "Filmfare Nominees and Winners" (PDF). Deep750.googlepages.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  13. ↑ "Directorate of Film Festival" (PDF). Iffi.nic.in. Retrieved 2015-09-18.

Further reading

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