The early to mid 1950s were the height of Sino-Indian love – so much so that India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru coined the phrase “Hindi-Chini bhai bhai”: “Indians and Chinese are brothers.”
When Zhou Enlai visited India in 1960, crowds chanted the phrase on the streets. Indeed, it is still used today in debates about relations between the two countries. More than a few negative editorials have been written on the topic and, as you might guess, more than a few copywriters have deployed the pun “Hindi-Chini bye-bye.”
One of the most prominent symbols of Hindi-Chini bhai bhai in the pop culture of that time was a hit song called ‘Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu,’ or ‘My Name Is Chin Chin Chu,’ from a 1958 movie calledHowrah Bridge. Sung by Indian playback star Geeta Dutt, the song features the Bollywood actress Helen dancing around in a qipao and done up in some somewhat unfortunate “slanty-eye” makeup. The lyrics include:
Hey mister, I come from China and I've brought a heart that’s Chinese / as sweet as sugar [play on words] / I have the youth of Singapore and the laid-backness of Shanghai / Put your hand on my heart, you will go crazy with desire / My name is Chin Chin Chu.
Funnily, the song is itself an allusion to (or rip-off of) a cultural product of Britain’s own period of China fever – a musical comedy which debuted in London in 1916, called Chu Chin Chow. The comedy was a hit in first Britain, then America and Australia. It’s (very) loosely based on the story of Ali Baba, with an extra bit about a wealthy Chinese merchant coming to dinner.
But back to India. Though many still know and love the “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” song today, Hindi-Chini bhai bhai soured after it came out thanks to that pesky little 1962 skirmish with China. Relations have waxed and waned since, but if pop culture is a reliable marker of things, it’s worth noting that, in 2009, a new Bollywood movie came out called Chandni Chowk to China.
It was a martial-arts action comedy set (and aimed) at China and followed the adventures of a lowly vegetable stall worker from Delhi. A few well-known Hong Kong actors, such as Gordon Liu, also co-star.
Unfortunately, Chandni Chowk to China was a total bomb, and produced no catchy and beloved songs. But perhaps it’s just as well – it remains to be seen when either country will be ready for another lovefest.
// Eveline Chao is the author of NIUBI! – The Real Chinese You Were Never Taught in School, available in English-language bookstores
// Follow us on twitter @thats_beijing and facebook.
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