SHRI 420’ – A review

SHRI 420’ – A review

The vagabond of ‘Awara’ is back – this time donning the hat of a tramp. Wearing a ragged old coat and ankle-deep trouser and a cloth bundle tied to a stick, he is on his way towards Bombay to try his luck at some gold-digging. He is rustic and naive. He stands at the high-way and tries for a lift. The cars whiz past him unmindful of his presence. He mutters, ‘Ek car—Do car—Teen car—Sab Bekaar!’. – With that little pot-shot at urban insensitivity, Writer K.A.Abbas kick-starts the tale of a tramp who is going to be caught in the web of a big city, that would soon force the ‘Shri’ in him turn into a ‘420’ (cheat!).

Raj, the tramp, as he stands on the high-way perhaps already has a whiff of the ‘chalu’ (street-smart) air blowing from Bombay. He feigns a faint and immediately is taken into a paunchy Seth’s car. But when the Seth is determined to take the ‘unconscious’ fellow to hospital, Raj panics and blurts out his ‘deceptive’ tactic! He is thrown out of the car by the Seth promptly! Raj gets his first lesson to go a bit easy on ‘truth’ in the city, if he has to survive! He looks wistfully at the mile-stone which says symbolically ‘Bombay- 420 miles’. He musters himself and starts merrily walking again on the convoluted road to prosperity.

—At this point, he picks up his little ‘baaja’ and sets off a little prelude tune that would instantly herald one of the most iconic songs of modern India:

‘Mera joota hai Japani, Yeh patloon Englisthani, Sar-pe lal topi Roosi, Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani!’.

With four simple lines, Shailendra stirs up the entire nation! The song even travels effortlessly to Russia and echoes all over the globe. It inspires ad jingles and movie titles. It also finds a mention in Salman Rushdie’s ‘Satanic verses’.

Shailendra-ji had this ‘bad’ habit of putting your head into a spin of complex thoughts with his clever configuration of few simple words!

One wonders often what exactly he implied by those legendary opening lines.

Was it an expression of post-independent nationalism, or was it plain self-righteous jingoism?

Then— ‘Honge raaje raajkunvar, Hum bigade dil shahzade—Hum sinhaasan par ja baite jab jab karein iraade!’

Now was this brimming optimism at the Nehru brand of socialism prevailing at that time or was it sheer complacency setting in, after freedom from the British ‘Raj’ ?

‘Naadan hain jo bait kinaare poochhe raah vatan ki’!

We know Shailendra-ji’s communist slant, but was this a prophetical dig at rigid ideologists who would distance themselves from the main-stream path towards globalization?

Well, my brain is too small to fathom Shailendra-ji vast expanse of mind. So I choose not to dwell in complexities. Neither so does Raj Kapoor in his films! RK likes to keep things simple—and grand! So the film just targets your heart and the senses, and often hits the bull’s eye, like this opening song!

We watch Raj arriving at the big bad city. His first encounter, of all the persons, is with a beggar, who gives his wise counsel to the tramp to keep his bundle of ‘padhai-likhai’, ‘sachhai’, ‘imaandaari’ ‘’mehnat’ etc. etc.aside, if he really wants a job! With that little piece of advice, the beggar brushes him aside as he is a bit busy – It is ‘dhandhe-ka time’ even for a ‘bhikari’ in Bombay, you see! Poor Raj seems to be a bit weak on arithmetic as well. He bargains with the ‘Kele-wali’ (Lalita Pawar) for 2 bananas for 3 annas when she is offering 3 bananas for 2 annas! The old lady is charmed by his innocence and offers him the bananas free. It shows there are little pieces of ‘dil’ left, even in the metropolis! Raj takes the beggar’s advice seriously and pawns his gold-medal that he had got for his honesty and sincerity. Chalo, sachhai aur Imaandari kuch to kaam aaye!

Vidya (Nargis), the sad-eyed daughter of an impoverished school-master happens to be in the same shop to pawn her bangles. She looks at Raj and gets disgusted by his lack of morals. But at first sight of her, Raj loses the only possession that he has – ‘dil’.

Lekin pyar-vyar later, pehle accommodatation!

Raj lands up at a ‘basti’, which is open-air under-the-sky. The inhabitants are hostile to him. They say it is not free. It is premium location and the rent is very costly. Why? Because the aroma of halwa-puri and the yummies from the adjacent mansion of the Seth drifts towards the basti! Anyway ‘Kele-wali’ who happens to stay in the ‘basti’ intervenes and secures a place for Raj. Once accepted inside the flock, Raj lifts a ‘dholak’ and regales the gathering.

Manna Dey’s opening call is like a war-cry to the Seths and the richie-richs.

Shailendra’s simple complex lines start flowing:

‘Dilka haal sune dilwala, Seedhisi baat na mirch masala,Kehta rahega kehnewala!’

The tramp gives his ‘parichay’ – ‘Chhote-se ghar-mein garib-ka beta, Main bhi hoon maa-ke naseeb-ka beta!’!

Now Shailendra can be tricky. He can start with tickling your ribs and pulling your ears, but he could suddenly jab at your chest with his clever set of four simple words –

‘Bhook-ne hai bade pyar-se paala!’. Lalita Pawar clucks sympathetically, but your conscience takes a prick as you there, settled on a plush seat and munching your pop-corn, suddenly choke at the thought of millions of children of India being brought up ‘lovingly’ by hunger! But even as Raj sings ‘Bin mausam malhaar na gaana!’, the ‘basti’-dwellers dance in gaiety and have a ball, much to the consternation of the Seth.

Raj bumps into Vidya again at the sea-shore. She can’t stand him. She tells him to go jump into the sea. So he goes and jumps into the sea. After the rescue mission, Raj follows her to her house, manages to impress her father and stays on to watch Vidya teach the school-children in the make-shift tree-shade school in the court-yard.

It is quiz-time now – ‘Ichak dana beechak dana, daane upar dana, ichak dana—‘

The child in Hasrat Saab comes out wondering at a red chillie with cute charming lines ‘Chhoti-si chokri, Lalbai naam hai, Pehne woh ghagra, Ek paisa dam hai!’. Nargis is gentleness personified. Lata’s voice is tender – as if lovingly stroking the children. Raj amuses the kids and Mukesh butts in mischievously and cautions the kids not to get into the ‘chakkar’ of the world ! The composition is liltingly sweet! The song is so endearingly innocent, that it prompts the makers to give another quiz program as ‘Teetar-ke do aage teetar’ for MNJ.

Romance strikes along with lightning at the way-side road-stall over some chana and ‘cutting’ tea. Sudden rain and the solitary umbrella help the lovers come together in a fleeting moment of proximity and passion and then,— a time-less duet is born!

‘Pyar hua ikraar hua hai, Pyar-se phir kyun darta hai dil!’ – Manna Dey, Lata, Raj, Nargis, thunder-showers, misty fog, moon-lit rain-washed streets, glittering buildings in the back-drop—those neat flowery lines, those swinging flourishes, those expressions of first love – the heady mix is just hypnotizing! They show three kids in rain-coats (RK’s off-springs) trudging along the rain – ‘Hum na rahenge, tum na rahoge, phir bhi rahengi nishhaniyan!’.

-That can be said more about the song itself and its creators!

Raj joins a laundry called ‘Jai Bharat’ and during one of his delivery visits catches the sharp evil eyes of a sharper-nosed Maya (Nadira) when he casually flits through a pack of cards, while waiting for her to settle the bill. She exploits his skill to make a quick buck at the casino and then discards him ruthlessly. But Raj is picked up by the Seth for more lucratively ‘shady’ ventures. Raj, now a dandy nattily dressed in a suit visits Vidya and takes her out to ‘temple’ for ‘Laxmi-pooja’ on the Diwali night. The ‘temple’ turns out to be the same Casino! A shocked and distraught Vidya flees from the opulent club of depravity and as Raj rushes to the door to cajole her back, Maya entices him back with ‘Mud mudke na dekh mudke—‘. A lovely rhythmic waltz envelops Asha Bhosle’s silky voice to perfection. Like us, Raj cannot resist the pull of the song and he retreats back announcing his ‘arrival’ at the ‘elite club’ with a trumpet in close-up. The song paces up seamlessly to Manna Dey’s rollickingly exuberant version and you see a transformed elegant Raj Kapoor swinging to the tune gracefully. You also spot in the crowd, another young luxuriously-haired handsome gentleman in suit (Jaikishen) joining the revelry and you feel a pang at the memory of a genius who gave so much to the world of Hindi music in such a short span of time, and then left the mortal world in such a hurry!

A tipsy Raj visits his conscience-keeper Vidya to show off the note-bundles he has started making out of his 420 formulae. Vidya scorns his waywardness but an adamant Raj totters back to his dark alley. A dignified Vidya watches impassively but her ghost image follows him pleading him to turn back –

‘O jaanewale mudke zara dekhke jaana’. ( a contrast to the earlier song ‘Mud mudke na dekh). The song is just touchingly beautiful, to put it mildly! Lata’s honey-voice and the exquisite fusion of piano and violins creates a dream-like aura making you drift into that old-world charm! Unfortunately truncated pre-maturely after first ‘antara’ and perhaps the most under-rated song of the film, it makes you wonder how many such gems of songs did not attain the popularity that they deserved, because of getting over-shadowed by other equally brilliant compositions from the same film!

Raj is promoted as a partner by Seth in his business of conning the rich. Seth then eyes the poor for his loot and floats a housing scheme. He involves Raj for marketing the 100 Rs. worth dream-home to the ‘basti-walas’. Meanwhile Maya has more grandiose plans to collaborate with Raj and cheat the Seth off all his money. Raj has attacks of conscience and he oscillates between the two worlds. Was it a symbolic portrayal of a ‘Raj’ (nation) being torn between two conflicting values – one of ‘Maya’ (materialistic delusion) and ‘Vidya’ (spiritual enlightenment)?! Anyway I don’t let my small brain trouble itself with allegories and just wait for another masterpiece of a song. It begins as a haunting echo of Rafi following Raj to the ‘basti’ and then bursts into a folk-dance while Raj watches from a corner with a heavy heart. Rafi’s voice is a rare treat in an RK film and he enlivens the mood when he begins with gusto ‘Ramaiyya Vastavaiyya—‘. Words that could have inspired a comedy song caricaturing a southern language, become an inspiration for a short but profoundly poetic treatise on love! Lata fills in as the sweet creamy layer. The song is clearly a labour of love by some of the best talents and the sincerity in their work shows all over.

‘Us desh-mein tere pardes-mein sone chandi-ke badle-mein bhikte hain dil

Is gaon-mein dard-ki chaon-mein pyar-ke naam-pe hi tadapte hain dil!’

You lose yourself in the lovely repartee between Rafi and Lata , till Mukesh makes a late entry into the song and gives you the goose-bumps! (He did the same later in ‘O mere sanam’ in ‘Sangam’!).

‘Rasta wohi musafir wohi, ek taara na jaane kahn chup gaya

Duniya wohi duniyawale wohi, koi kya jaane kiska jahan lut gaya’!

Shailendra, the wily wizard of words, squeezes the heart and conjures up a tear!

The chorus captures the soul and Rafi gives the reverie a consummate finish that lingers on in the ears even after the song stops. The song is beautifully structured like a tasty triple-decker dessert, flavoured by a ‘Sangam’ of three great voices!

Raj regains the pawned gold-medal and his conscience as well. Keeping his heart at the right place, he smartly turns the table on the Seth, Maya and also the greedy dishonest devil within himself. Finally he emerges triumphant in the trial of truth, puts on his tramp’s garb again and walks back the same way that he had come towards the horizon, only to be pulled back by Vidya’s love to a new world of happy honest living.

‘Shri 420’ is undoubtedly a classic to remember, but it is not without its flaws. Raj Kapoor does the ‘Chaplinesque’ act a bit far in the first half indulging in slapstick stuff straight out of ‘Modern Times’ etc. Actually he is brilliant when he under-plays in the second half of the film! Then the characterizations are far too simplistic. All the characters are neatly divided into two groups- Good Poor and the Bad Rich!

Ah! Now I remember something in the film that is both rich and good, which I missed to write about – that is S-J’s music! In fact, it is so good and so rich in content that it raises your ‘musichloresterol’ level and elevates your ‘blood pleasure’! What more can I say on it? I am an ‘Anari’ when it comes to ‘Raaga’s and other technicalities. So I cannot dive deep into the S-J Ocean to pick the pearls. I can just sit at the shore and enjoy the waves! BTW they say that the duo almost came to fist-cuffs over the ‘antara’ of a song in the film. I say, all the songs were worth such fights!

Mera Joota Hai Japani

Epilogue :

The tramp in real life as well was indeed triumphant, but he could have very well lost his way to glory, had he not hitch-hiked on this fantastic Caravan that he himself had assembled by the name ‘Shankar-Jaikishen’! The tramp was hailed as ‘Show-Man’ and the Caravan too rode on merrily delighting the millions. But Times do change through ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’, and so do personal equations! So the show-man got off at one point terminating his ‘Scintillating Journey’ of the Caravan and chose to walk along the ‘Long Path’ and eventually crossed over at another ‘Road Junction’. But in spite of a ‘Bobbing’ start at the detour, the ‘Show-Man’ sadly missed the bus to greater glories! The path and the junction were by no means undistinguished, but the colour and chemistry that he could pull off when he was part of the Caravan, was grossly missing! As a result, Raj Kapoor’s travelogue beyond the mid-seventies was eminently forgettable! His sons also could not resurrect the man with violin on one arm and the bent lady on other, who had posed so awe-inspiringly with the golden sky glowing in the background and an accompanying grand piece of tune gifted by the Caravan! The time soon came when you still checked out an RK movie, but you no longer exactly waited with bated breath for the ‘show’ to start while Prithiviraj-ji was doing the ‘Shiv-Ling Pooja’! The RK banner had sadly lost its golden glow!

As for the Caravan, with all his soul-mates gone one after the other, Shankar-ji valiantly drove on alone towards the golden sunset, as magnificently as during the good old times.

‘Kaarwan gujar gaya, Ghubbaar dekhte rahe’! - As you watched, the Caravan had slowly disappeared from sight in the distant horizon. But You, the die-hard S-J fan still re-visit daily the same spot and stand there engulfed by the golden dust of memories left by the Caravan’s spectacular trail, and as you return to your daily grind, you sigh deeply —‘Jaane kahan gaye woh din—–‘!