History Main / MysticalIndia

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1647995673044200100 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

The phrase "Sim sim salabim" itself is an old stock magician's phrase like ''abracadabra'' or ''hocus pocus'', and originally derived from {{Scatting}} within a ''[[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Danish or German]]'' (whichever came first) children's song titled ''Højt på en gren en krage (sad)'', "High on a branch a crow (sat)", or ''Auf einem Baum ein Kuckuck (saß)'', "Upon a tree a cuckoo (sat)". Either way, the original phrase in the song is ''Sim salabim bumba saladu saladim''.

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'': For our purposes the original 1964-1965 series is the TropeNamer, if not maker. "Sim sim salabim" are the magic words used by Hadji, who grew up in a version of this India. He could control snakes by playing his flute, had fakir style powers such as levitation, and incredible skill at hypnotizing others. Amusingly, when he said the words in "Calcutta Adventure" he added "and all that jazz", suggesting the words did not have any real power and he was just using them for show.

* Invoked in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', parodying "random selection" for "further screening" at airports:
-->'''Stewie:''' "Jonny Quest"... okay, welcome aboard. "Doctor Benton Quest" ... alright, have a good flight. "Hadji" ... hmm, uh, listen, you've been randomly selected for additional screening.\\
'''Hadji:''' But you didn't even type anything in!\\
'''Stewie:''' Look, if it were up to me, you'd be right there on that flight, but ... uh, I'm going to need you to take off your shoes, and that lovely, uh, ''hat''.\\
'''Hadji:''' ''Sim sim salabim!''\\
'''Stewie:''' Yeah, I'd cut back on that.

* The Jackie Chan movie movie Kung Fu Yoga, despite being hyped up as a joint production between Indian and Chinese studios, ends up overdoing this trope that it makes the James Bond movie tame in comparison. Probably why the movie became a hit in China and flopped badly in India.

At least, that's what fiction tells us. Often, this trope goes hand-in-hand with a case of MistakenNationality and InterchangeableAsianCultures, as India for some reason suddenly takes on [[ArabianNightsDays Arab and Persian characteristics]] in some American films. In some older Hollywood movies, it's not uncommon to see Aladdin and Genies[[note]]Silly, of course, since everyone knows that Aladdin was actually set in ''China''.[[/note]] tossed together with Hindu deities. To be fair, this is TruthInTelevision to an extent as India has a large Muslim population (13.4%, according to [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]) and was ruled by Islamic kingdoms for century-spanning portions of its history, such as the Mughal Empire[[note]]And parts of what used to be considered part of India went on to form the nations of UsefulNotes/{{Pakistan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}, which both have majority Muslim populations[[/note]] so it's certainly been more influenced by the Middle East than most Western countries have been. Also, the languages of northern India are mostly Indo-Aryan, making them distantly related to Persian and -- even more distantly -- to English (That's where the term "Indo-European" languages comes from of which Indo-Aryan is a subset just like Germanic).

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' has Dhalsim, who wears a skull necklace (probably [[GeniusBonus a reference to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction]]) and uses attacks with names like "[[KillItWithFire Yoga Fire]]". Later story developments give a more down-to-earth story to Dhalsim's skulls: they are the skulls of little children who died of a disease in his home village, thus they're {{Tragic Keepsake}}s.

Compare StereotypicalSouthAsianEnglish.

* Kushan in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', with some ArabianNightsDays and TheEmpire thrown in. This mix-up is not as outrageous as it may sound, as its a fictional universe with fictional states that only loosely correspond with a number of characteristics of some real-life civilisations which holds also true to the Midland which is an amalgamation of western European countries.

* India in the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries''.

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'': For our purposes the original 1964-1965 series is the TropeNamer, if not maker. "Sim sim salabim" are the magic words used by Hadji, who grew up in a version of this India. He could control snakes by playing his flute, had fakir style powers such as levitation, and incredible skill at hypnotizing others. Amusingly, when he said the words in ''Calcutta Adventure'' he added "and all that jazz", suggesting the words did not have any real power and he was just using them for show.

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'': For our purposes the original 1964-1965 series is the TropeNamer, if not maker. "Sim sim salabim" are the magic words used by Hadji, who grew up in a version of this India. He could control snakes by playing his flute, had fakir style powers such as levitation, and incredible skill at hypnotizing others.

Becoming a bit of a DiscreditedTrope these days, at least in Europe and North America, where a notable percentage of the population can and will call works set in India out on any inaccuracies. Of course, even UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} itself would release several films set in the Mughal Empire, leading to further confusion to an already confusing mix.

[[folder:Film]]

* Ricky Gervais's character in ''Film/GhostTown'' seems to follow this mentality when asking fellow dentist Dr. Prashar for advice:
-->'''Bertram Pincus:''' Dr. Prashar - you're from a... scary country, right?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm from India...
-->'''Bertram Pincus:''' But, you're not... Christian, like us?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm a Hindu...
-->'''Bertram Pincus:''' Yeah. So, um, how would you extract information from a hostile?
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' Well... as a... Hindu person... I would just... ask him... politely...

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

-->'''Stewie''': "Jonny Quest"... okay, welcome aboard. "Doctor Benton Quest" ... alright, have a good flight. "Hadji" ... hmm, uh, listen, you've been randomly selected for additional screening.\\
'''Hadji''': But you didn't even type anything in!\\
'''Stewie''': Look, if it were up to me, you'd be right there on that flight, but ... uh, I'm going to need you to take off your shoes, and that lovely, uh, ''hat''.\\
'''Hadji''': ''Sim sim salabim!''\\
'''Stewie''': Yeah, I'd cut back on that.
* Shows up in an old episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where Homer and Apu travel to India to visit the Kwik-E-Mart HQ.

Becoming a bit of a DiscreditedTrope these days, at least in Europe and North America, where a notable percentage of the population can and will call works set in India out on any inaccuracies. Of course, even UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood} itself would release several films set in the Mughal Empire, leading to further confusion to an already confusing mix.

Becoming a bit of a DiscreditedTrope these days, at least in Europe and North America, where a notable percentage of the population can and will call works set in India out on any inaccuracies. Of course, even Bollywood itself would release several films set in the Mughal Empire, leading to further confusion to an already confusing mix.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/PunchOut https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/great_tiger_punch_out_wii.png]]]]

* As it does with every other racial stereotype in the book, ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' plays this to maximum effect with Neo India's Cobra Gundam, piloted by a hypnotist/snake-charmer.

Becoming a bit of a DiscreditedTrope these days, at least in Europe and North America, where a notable percentage of the population can and will call works set in India out on any inaccuracies. Of course, even Bollywood itself would release several films set in the Mughal Empire, leading to an already confusing mix.

At least, that's what fiction tells us. Often, this trope goes hand-in-hand with a case of MistakenNationality and InterchangeableAsianCultures, as India for some reason suddenly takes on [[ArabianNightsDays Arab and Persian characteristics]] in some American films. In some older Hollywood movies, it's not uncommon to see Aladdin and Genies[[note]]Silly, of course, since everyone knows that Aladdin was actually set in ''China''.[[/note]] tossed together with Hindu deities. To be fair, this is TruthInTelevision to an extent as India has a large Muslim population (13.4%, according to [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]) and was ruled by Islamic kingdoms for century-spanning portions of its history,[[note]]And parts of what used to be considered part of India went on to form the nations of UsefulNotes/{{Pakistan}} and UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}, which both have majority Muslim populations[[/note]] so it's certainly been more influenced by the Middle East than most Western countries have been. Also, the languages of northern India are mostly Indo-Aryan, making them distantly related to Persian and -- even more distantly -- to English (That's where the term "Indo-European" languages comes from of which Indo-Aryan is a subset just like Germanic).

Becoming a bit of a DiscreditedTrope these days, at least in Europe and North America, where a notable percentage of the population can and will call works set in India out on any inaccuracies.

* ComicBook/{{Asterix}} visits this version of India in ''Asterix and the Flying Carpet''.

* The Indian state of Gaipajama (with town names like Sethru and Jamjah) in the {{Tintin}} book ''Cigars of the Pharaoh''.

** But India DID have these thing in that era - even books/history as documented by Indians will claim that. And the book ''makes sure'' to point out the stereotypes of India as well as deconstructing the fairytale-like aspect of India. The author also calls out the UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire on their stereotypes and their MightyWhitey way of thinking time and time again. The beauty about the book is that it is honest in showing ''all sides'' of India - the mythical, the political and everything else. That's exactly what makes it a complex picture of race, social customs and identity.

* {{Invoked}|Trope}} in Music/{{Tool}}'s song "Die Eier von Satan". The song is a joke revolving around a cookie recipe, with the last steps before baking being to roll the cookies in powdered sugar then speak the magic words "Sim salabim bumba saladu saladim".

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/TheGreatKhali. Tigers, sitars, Bollywood dancing, the Mowgli haircut - over his career, his WWE iconography has had it all.

* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'': "Sim sim salabim" are the magic words used by Hadji in the original 1964-1965 series, who grew up in a version of this India. He could control snakes by playing his flute, had fakir style powers such as levitation, and incredible skill at hypnotizing others.

The phrase "Sim sim salabim" itself is an old stock magician's phrase like ''abracadabra'' or ''hocus pocus'', and originally derived from {{Scatting}} within a ''[[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Danish or German]]'' (whichever came first) children's song titled ''Højt på en gren en krage (sad)'', "High on a branch a crow (sat)", or ''Auf einem Baum ein Kuckuck (saß)'', "Upon a tree a cuckoo (sat)". Either way, the original phrase in the song is ''Sim salabim bumba saladu saladim'').