Shree 420

Raj comes to Bombay from a small town. He has a diploma in his pocket, no money and knows nobody in the city. He looks for work and does not find it. He meets a teacher named Vidya and falls in among people living on the pavement. Then another door opens: it turns out he can cheat at cards and a wealthy circle takes him in. Within a short time he is making money, wearing a suit and speaking at the launch of a housing scheme. The scheme is a fraud. Raj Kapoor directs and plays the lead. Nargis plays Vidya and Nadira plays Maya. The title refers to the section of the Indian penal code on fraud, and the phrase became an idiom in the language. The character Kapoor plays is close to Chaplin's tramp and the resemblance is deliberate; but the narrative ties it to India's urbanisation after independence. Its songs are among the best known in Indian film music; the opening song was played for years outside the country as well. The matter it works at is what honesty returns; the film does not present poverty as virtue but does tie wealth directly to crime. The crowd scenes and the depiction of those living on the pavement are worked in detail for the period. Its limits are the length and the emotional register of the last section. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Indian cinema and musical narratives. Who it is not for: it is long, the narrative states its message directly, and the melodrama is heavy.