Page to Screen: Boot Polish

Boot Polish is one of the movies that Betsy Woodman mentions in the Etcetera section of Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes. She chose it because it would be have been shown at a movie theater like the one in the book in 1960.

Boot Polish, released in 1954, is the story of orphan siblings Bhola and Belu. They live with their mean aunt Kamla, who forces them to beg on the streets for money and beats them if they don’t come home with enough. A kindly bootlegger who lives in the same slum teaches them that working and earning money is better than begging. Bhola and Belu buy a shoe polish kit and start shining shoes to make money. Unfortunately, when the rainy season hits business dries up and they must decide whether to swallow their pride and go back to begging or starve.

This movie hits the viewer over the head with the overt message of working is better than begging; it comes close to propaganda. It’s a good moral to be hit over the head with though. I think there is a more subtle metaphor at play as well. The film was released when India was still a newly independent nation. The orphans could represent India herself – figuring out how to be self-sufficient and taking pride in it. I’m afraid I haven’t learned a lot of details about India’s history yet so I can’t take the metaphor any further myself but it’s interesting to think about.

Boot Polish had spunky Bollywood musical numbers that I loved. They were all catchy and lively, even when the actual song lyrics were melancholy. Belu was just adorable, she reminded me of Shirley Temple. She and Bhola were great actors, especially for being so young.

My one complaint about this film is the English subtitles. They were more of a summary of what the characters were saying rather that a line by line translation. There were whole paragraphs that were obviously not written up on screen. I feel like I would have been drawn deeper into the story if I would have know exactly what the characters were saying – a lot of nuance and emotion was left out with the way the subtitles were done.

If you are intrigued by all things Indian like I am, than this would be a great film for you to watch.

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