Good versus Evil in Shree 420 (Essay Sample)

Name Instructor Course Date Good versus Evil in Shree 420 Raj Kapoor’s 1955 film, Shree 420, is a masterpiece that explores the contradictions in the Hindu society in the 1950s. The number 420 in the title of the film is an allusion to Article 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which provides sanctions for the prosecution of fraud and deception. The film utilizes several dramatic dichotomies such as life versus death, hero versus villain, rural versus urban life, affluence versus poverty, innocence and purity versus dishonesty, God versus devil, good versus evil, true love versus ill-intentioned seduction, and other oppositions to critique the social inequalities created by modernization (Lindgren and Ross). Arguably, the greatest dichotomy in the film is good versus evil, which is presented through the abstract binary opposition of the characters of Vidya and Maya. Morality is the central theme in Shree 420. The film is centered on the story of Raj, a vernal, poor, educated orphan who, like other Indians at the time, migrates to Bombay to pursue his dreams of success. Raj falls in love with Vidya, a virtuous lady who is presented as the epitome of purity in the film. Raj, however, abandons Vidya after engaging in the unscrupulous business of Seth, a rich man who swindles money from the poor. The young man becomes a trickster and is soon seduced by Maya, a vivacious enchantress who is a wolf driven by greed, and who uses Raj to acquire wealth. In this film, Kapoor used the characters of Vidya and Maya as a dramatic dichotomy to construct the theme of morality and depict how good triumphs over evil in the society. The conflict of good and evil through the characters of Vidya and Maya is best illustrated in two contrasting misce en scenes of sheer cinematographic excellence. One of these scenes is when Vidya is in the rain, while Raj’s iron burns a hole in the laundry, indicating that his obsession with the girl made him negligent to his job. In this scene, the song Pyaar Hua Igraar Hua, which means “it burnt a hole in my heart”, plays as Raj is distracted by Vidya’s beauty and burns laundry with the iron. Kapoor portrays Vidya as a tender, subtle, warm, pure woman whose presence is special and charming to Raj. The beauty in this scene is enhanced by the rain, the children passing by, and a tea merchant watching Raj and Vidya intently as they embrace under an umbrella in the pouring rain. The background melody resonates with the love growing between virtuous Vidya and Raj. This scene contrasts sharply with the scene in which Raj meets Maya. Like Vidya, Maya is shown to be at the peak of her glory, but unlike the former, she lacks innocence and purity: she is a seductress. Maya is stunning and stupendously beautiful. She has a ravishing figure and sparkling eyes full of seductive power. The enchantress casts a blinding spell of lust on Raj, and he forgets what he has left behind: Vidya’s love. The luxurious surroundings and the affluent people in the scene are used to cinematographically depict the relationship between affluence and evil as opposed to the simplicity and virtuous, true love in the scene of Raj and Vidya in the rain. Through these scenes, Kapoor outlines the differences between good and evil through Vidya and Maya. Besides cinematography, Shree 420 utilizes sound tracks effectively to convey the idea that good always triumphs over evil. Several songs are utilized in the film to emphasize differe...