Shree 420
Raj Kapoor's bumpkin character romances a schoolteacher while dabbling in petty crime in one of the actor/director's most famous films.
- 27 Feb 17:30 NFT2 not available online
Referring to the Indian penal code statute for fraud, Shree 420 is perhaps Kapoor's most famous incarnation of his tramp persona. Arriving in the big city to make his fortune, bumpkin Raju is introduced to the urban underworld following brief encounters with a moralistic oligarch and a Cassandra-like beggar. Wooing honest schoolteacher Vidya while secretly dipping into a life of gambling and petty fraud, Raju is inexorably drawn into more dangerous criminal territory... Post-Partition changes to the major Indian cities loom large over the film's tragicomic situations, with the teeming city streets a vivid backdrop for the film's celebrated musical numbers.
| Director | Raj Kapoor |
| Cast | Raj Kapoor, Nargis |
| Country | India |
| Year | 1955 |
| Running time | 169min |
| Certificate | U |
BFI Southbank Programme Update - 22 May (No.32)