Shree 420

Shree 420 original poster for sale.

Featured here is a rare vintage Bollywood poster of the 1955 cult Hindi classic produced and directed by the Showman of Indian cinema Raj Kapoor that starred him in a lead role opposite Nargis.

Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Shree 420 (1955) also starred Nadira, Nemo (Mirza Muhammad Begg), Lalita Pawar, M. Kumar, Iftekhar, Hari Shivdasani and Nana Palsikar in supporting roles.

Upon release, Shree 420 (1955) became the highest grossing film of all time. In Russia, the film received mass appeal and made Raj Kapoor a household name, making this Shree 420 original poster, highly collectible!

Shree 420 (1955), sometimes also spelled as Shri 420, translates as “Mr. 420.” The number 420 is a reference to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which prescribes the punishment for fraud. The literal interpretation of “Mr. 420” is fraudster or scammer.

The film told the story of a happy-go-lucky jobless graduate from Allahabad called Raj (Raj Kapoor), who harbors dreams of making it big in life. An orphan raised in an orphanage, he journey’s to Bombay on foot carrying only bare essentials tied up in a cloth dangling at the end of a stick and his B.A. degree carefully folded in his pocket. Raj meets a beautiful woman who is full of virtue called Vidya (Nargis) at a pawn shop. Vidya lives with her father, a wheelchair-bound retired headmaster and is struggling to make ends meet. She runs a small school for 50 underprivileged children in the impoverished ghetto she lives in. The two are quickly drawn to each other. When Raj is pick pocketed and loses the little money he got from a pawn shop for pawning his academic gold medal, he is quickly disillusioned. He feels that honesty and hard work will get him nowhere in the big city. Raj’s pursuit for money and status knows no bounds and he is willing to sacrifice whatever necessary to get there. Despite being a graduate, he takes up a job at Jai Bharat laundry washing and ironing clothes to gain a foothold in the city. Everything changes when Raj comes across Maya (Nadira), a high society con woman addicted to gambling. Maya is impressed with Raj’s card counting skills and she compels him to be her partner for the night’s gambling session, as her husband is too drunk to accompany her. She gives Raj a new identity, Raj Kumar and asks him to forget that he is a laundry worker and pretend to be a prince instead. At the party, the two meet cotton and bullion king Seth Sonachand Dharmanand (Nemo). Raj outsmarts Seth with his confidence and bluffing skills at poker. He ends up winning a sum of Rs. 20,000 at the end of the night. However, when he asks Maya for his cut of the heist, Raj is humiliated and thrown out by Maya who reminds him of his true identity. Despite losing a large sum of money to Raj, Seth is highly impressed with his conning abilities and tracks him down at the laundry where he works. He gives Raj a hefty advance and employs him as an associate to con others at gambling. Raj’s new life as a conman brings him quick wealth but drives a wedge in his relationship with Maya. Seth decides to exploit Raj further and asks him to start a ponzi investment scheme under the guise of a bogus gold mining company called Raj Raj Raj Tibet Gold Company. Together they sell shares of the firm to gullible investors and make millions in profits. Unknown to Raj, Seth releases an advertisement in the papers for another fraudulent scheme; this time a housing project called Janata Ghar that promises the homeless to own a house in Bombay for a mere 100 rupees. Raj realizes the scheme will con the very same homeless people who helped him when he arrived in the city with nothing. With love for Vidya eating away at his conscience, Raj decides to severe ties with Seth and straighten up his act. However, it is too late as Seth begins to blackmail him, reminding him that he is fully liable and accountable for fraud being the owner and signatory of the bogus firms. Will Raj be able to unite with Vidya and leave the life of fraud?

Printed and circulated during the actual release run of the film in cinemas (somewhere in the 1960s), this Shree 420 movie poster was designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

Originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a Bollywood poster art studio in Bombay, this vintage Shree 420 poster features striking artwork.

Raj Kapoor is seen illustrated in a full figure drawing in his classic Tramp avatar in this Shree 420 original poster. A large hand painted close up of actress Nargis appears in the background, rising over the Mumbai cityscape.

Typography used in this old Raj Kapoor poster is entirely in English, with the iconic RK Films logo seen on the top left.

Shree 420 (1955) is widely regarded as a classic in Indian cinema. Raj Kapoor is remembered as the greatest showman in Indian cinema – an all rounder who produced, directed as well as starred in some of the leading films of his time. In Shree 420 (1955), Raj Kapoor’s character is heavily influenced by Charlie Chaplin’s “little tramp”, similar to his character in a film that released four years prior in 1951 called Awaara.

The soundtrack album of Shree 420 (1955) was composed by Shankar Jaikishan, while lyrics were penned by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. The film has to its credit some of the greatest songs ever made in Bollywood such as “Mera Joota Hai Japani” (My shoes are Japanese), which went on to become a patriotic symbol of the newly independent India.

The “Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua” image depicting Raj Kapoor and Nargis singing and dancing under a shared umbrella in pouring rain is regarded as one of the most iconic images in Bollywood.

Other songs from the film such as “Mudh Mudh Ke Na Dekh,” “Ramaiya Vastavaiya” and “Ichak Dana Beechak Dana” are fondly remembered and played till date.