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Mera Joota Hai Japani
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Wikipedia article
'Mera Joota Hai Japani' (; ) is a Hindi song with music by Shankar Jaikishan and lyrics by Shailendra, written for the 1955 Bollywood film 'Shree 420'. It was performed by popular Bollywood star Raj Kapoor, though actually sung by playback singer Mukesh.
In the song, the narrator asserts pride in being Indian, despite their clothes all being from other countries. The chorus runs:
::
::
::
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::My shoes are Japanese, these trousers are English;
::The red cap on my head is Russian, but still my heart is Indian.
Due to its patriotic themes, the song was widely embraced in its time as a representation of the newly sovereign nation of India.'The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema', By Ashis Nandy, Macmillan, 1998 As India was gaining its status as a sovereign democratic republic, this song depicted the casting off of the colonialist yoke and the recognition of the internationalist aim of uniting to make India and the world a better place.
The song was also a satirical retort at some of the political leaders and rich upper class of the newly independent India, who boasted of being swadeshi in their clothes, but were extremely western in their thought, outlook, affiliations and deeds.
This song gained international fame, particularly in the Soviet Union.
In popular culture
* The opening section of the 1988 novel The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie has the character Gibreel Farishta singing an English translation of the opening lines of the song while he is falling out of an airplane.
* The first lines from the song are heard early in the 1991 film 'Mississippi Masala', at a significantly tense moment during the expulsion of Indians in Uganda in 1972.
* The 2000 Bollywood film 'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani' is named after a line in the song.
* Bengali author Mahasweta Devi quoted the lyrics in her inaugural address at the 2006 Frankfurt Book Fair:
This is truly the age where the 'joota' (shoe) is Japani (Japanese), 'patloon' (pants) is Inglistani (English), the 'topi' (hat) is Roosi (Russian), but the 'dil... dil' (heart) is always Hindustani (Indian)... My country, torn, tattered, proud, beautiful, hot, humid, cold, sandy, shining India. My country.
* In the 2009 movie 'Today's Special' starring Aasif Mandvi, "Mera Joota Hai Japani" plays on the radio in Naseeruddin Shah's cab.
* The 2012 re-make song 'Bollywood' by Sasha Dith and DJ Rico Bernasconi featured on the Buddha Bar XIV compilation features the original recording.
* In the 2013 film 'Gravity', the Indian astronaut Shariff, voiced by Phaldut Sharma, sings the first line of the song while taking a break from his duties in space.[http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-raj-kapoor-s-song-mera-joota-hai-japani-was-perfect-for-gravity-phaldut-sharma-1912358 Raj Kapoor's song Mera joota hai Japani was perfect for Gravity: Phaldut Sharma], 'DNA India', 1 November 2013
* In the 2006 novel 'The Inheritance of Loss', by Kiran Desai, Biju, an Indian immigrant in the USA finds solace in the song among his immigrant friends and colleagues.
* The song is played at the beginning of the American film 'Deadpool' (2016).
See also
* Music of Bollywood
References
Category:Hindi film songs
Category:Number-one singles in India
Category:Indian patriotic songs
Category:Songs about Japan
Category:Songs about India
Category:1955 songs
Category:Songs with music by Shankar Jaikishan
Category:Mukesh (singer) songs
Category:Songs with lyrics by Shailendra (lyricist)
Category:Indian nationalism
Category:Japan in non-Japanese culture
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