Synopsis
A judge (Prithviraj Kapoor)'s wife (Leela
Chitnis) is kidnapped and on being rescued
is found to be pregnant. The husband turns
her out accusing her of infidelity. Their
son Raju (Raj Kapoor) born in the slums
ends up a criminal and faces a murder charge.
Rita (Nargis) Raju's lover and a lawyer
herself (the Judge's ward) defends him and
examines the judge in the witness box. She
holds the judge and society responsible
for depriving and dehumanizing Raju. The
judge owns up to Raju being his son.
The film
After World War II many Indian filmmakers
turned to urban life and its harsh realities.
The city became synonymous with jobs, wealth
and excitement. But this was one edge of
the sword. The other edge was exploitation,
crime, sleaze and slums. Awaara was
one of the films, which also looked at the
latter and argues with nurture over nature
i.e. Environment maketh the man.
With Awaara, Raj Kapoor
created the tramp, the rootless vagabond
living on his wits, inspired obviously by
Chaplin. The tramp was an allegory for the
innocent state of mind of the post Independent
Indian. In post-partition India when the
entire socio-political system was under
stress and thousands of migrants poured
into the cities, identification with Raj
Kapoor's rootless Raju was plausible and
easy. Although with Awaara, Raj Kapoor's
social concerns become more pronounced,
more than its social probe Awaara
is an astonishing even ingenious mixture
of melodrama, romance and crime.
Further,
Raj Kapoor's musical sense and feel for rhythm and his personal
involvement in music sittings have ensured the highest quality
of music in his films and Awaara is no exception. The
songs of Awaara ( Awaara Hoon, Ghar Aaya
Mera Pardesi, Ab Raat Guzarnewaali Hai, Ek Bewafaa
se Pyaar Kiya, Hum Tumse Mohabbat Karke Sanam and
Dum Bhar Jo Udhar Moon Phere among others) are some
of the most popular songs of Indian Cinema. Special mention
must be made of the picturisation of Ek Do Teen a sleazy
dance on the streets with renowned dancer Cuckoo. As she dances
men letch and paw at her and Raj Kapoor actually drowns out
the song and brings in their garrulous laughter over the soundtrack,
a device that works remarkably well.
 The film also works
primarily due to the incestual casting of
real life father and son, Prithviraj
Kapoor and Raj Kapoor as the judge and
his estranged criminal son, Raj's younger
brother Shashi as the younger Raju and real
life lovers Raj Kapoor and Nargis as
lovers in the film with solid on-screen
chemistry between them particularly as Nargis
dances in sexual frenzy on the boat during
the Dum Bhar song or the scene on
the beach when she calls him a 'junglee'
and he retaliates by slapping her - Pure,
Raw Passion!
The much talked about Ziegfield like dream
sequence among the clouds took three months
to shoot and was apparently added on later
to make the film more marketable and works
as the highlight of the film.
The film and particularly the title song
(Awaara Hoon) swept through Asia
breaking box office records in the Middle-East
being dubbed in Turkish, Persian and Arabic.
Raj Kapoor and Nargis became popular pin
ups in the bazaars of the Arab World. The
film also swept Russia where it was called
Bradyaga (Vagabond). (An interesting
fact here is that the villain of the film
K.N. Singh did hid own dubbing in Russian!)
Raj Kapoor and Nargis became superstars
in Russia. When they visited Russia, bands
played Awaara Hoon at airports, a
puppet show by a leading Russian puppeteer
had in its final play puppets representing
Raj Kapoor and Nargis! The Russian enthusiasm
lead to the distribution of his later film
Shree 420 (1955)
in Russia and though a success couldn't
match up to the heady success of Awaara.
Awaara is also a cult favourite
in China. (In fact the novelist Vikram Seth
has a lovely anecdote that when he jamming
with local musicians in Nanjing and when
he was asked to sing something he began
singing Awaara Hoon… Not only
did the musicians provide the back up music,
they sang along…in Hindi!)
All
in all Awaara is arguably the best film that Raj Kapoor
ever made - a great film by a great filmmaker. |
