shree 420

more than the story of the corruption that the city brings to a simple man from allahabad, what i loved about the film was the way in which it never equated poverty with innocence. too often in films of this genre this subtlety is lost.

raj kapoors bumbling simpleton was as much an act as his smooth suave rajkumar. like all of us, he uses a mask either of stupidity or of sophistication to enter places where he will not be seen as a threat or as an outsider. it’s a clever move as we all know and gets him where he wants to be.

this play of masks is admitted as such in one of my favorite scenes when he replaces one for another in front of nadira- the seductress into the world of riches and naturally -the vamp.

another of my favorite scenes has to be the political speeches on the beach where at one end a politician is ranting about the value of swadeshi and spiritual goodness and at the other end wearing a ‘japani joota’ and ‘russi topi’, raj kapoor is ranting about the value of a simple roti…and after getting the audiences attention ends up selling sand as toothpowder.

at the end of the film rajs conscience (via nargis’ upright uptight schoolteacher) makes him choose the mask of the simpleton on the way to a happy ending where the couple steps into a valley in which a modern city glistens in the new sunrise. beautiful and moving.