SYNOPSICS
Awaara (1951) is a Hindi movie. Raj Kapoor has directed this movie. Raj Kapoor,Nargis,Prithviraj Kapoor,K.N. Singh are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1951. Awaara (1951) is considered one of the best Drama,Musical,Romance movie in India and around the world.
Raju lives as a derelict as a result of being estranged from his bitter father, a district judge, who threw Raju's mother out of the house years ago. Raju shacks up with a Dacoit (pickpocket bandit) as his surrogate father only to realize that the man is actually responsible for the original misunderstanding between his parents. Raju kills him, and then tries killing his father, but fails, is arrested, and is taken to court right before his very own father, who presides there as the Judge. Raju has his childhood girlfriend as his legal representative, and the onus is now on his father, who must pass judgment without showing any personal sentiment.
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Awaara (1951) Reviews
Weldone! It was one of the masterpieces of the world movies from the 50s
When I was little, my grandmother often told me about a movie from her younger ages - Awaara /released as Bradyaga/. She was always telling me, that when it came to Bulgaria it was a total hit. People watched it more that 20 times! (especially the gypsies, who thought of Indian people as their ancestors). If I ask somebody, who is over 50 year old about that film, I am sure, that he will remember it. And when the main actor - Raj Kapoor visited the country, thousands of people traveled to see him. My grandma, who was one of the best portrait photographers at that time and was asked to make his pictures with the leaders of the country, remembers that he and his wife never acted like international movie stars. They met with ordinary people, visited hospitals and orphanages. Why was that film so special? Especially in Bulgaria - a country on a Balcan peninsula with such a different culture from India? First of all, it was so different from the Soviet films that were broad-casted at that time. It was full of life, passion, love, music, and nevertheless - it was a social film - about the problems of the different classes. And it made a country so far away close. It was the first step for the good relationships between our two countries. A few years ago I have the chance to watch this movie. And I can tell, its messages are still up to day. Something that you can tell for every really good film. Watch it, you will not regret it.
Remarkable
Awaara is a stunning example of full tilt filmmaking. Featuring superb (and appropriate) musical interludes by the Shankar-Jaikashan team, this film effortlessly blends a wide range of influences: noir, gothic horror, neo-realism, and the surrealism of Jean Cocteau all come into play. Raj Kapoor and Nargis are one of the finest screen couples of all time, equaling if not topping Jean-Louis Barrault and Arletty in Children of Paradise, another possible cinematic influence on Kapoor, who also directed. This is an exciting, moving, and unforgettable film.
My First Taste of Bollywood
I have always like watching movies. However, as time went by, I have only known of Hollywood, European, Japanese, and Filipino cinema. When I learned that Awara is one of Time Magazine's Top 100, I got a copy. The movie called my attention because I haven't seen a Bollywood movie. I watched Awara, and I was entertained. All the genre you can think of, you'll find it there. Name it: melodrama, action, comedy, romance, music, fantasy. Raj Kapoor craftily weaved them in the almost three hour-long classic. Behind the melodrama is the social commentary. The conflict between a person versus the orthodox beliefs of the milieu is a recurring theme each of us face in everyday life. Pressures to adhere to the norm led the main character to his plight. Children growing up in squalid areas is an important issue tackled. The musical sequences showed the movie's multi-faceted nature. It showed references to Chaplin, Rodgers/Hammerstein, and the like. Particularly amazing is the dream sequence in an east meets west setting. Elements of Hindu-Buddhist mythology are mingled with those of ancient Greco-Roman. The eclectic experience solidified my belief that Bollywood is indeed a pillar of world cinema. I look forward to watching more.
One of the most popular films of all time in India
Musicals in America in their heyday were mostly about the lives of prominent show business personalities or small town middle class Americana, never about the outcast or the urban slum dweller. This is not the case with the films of Indian director, Raj Kapoor, especially in Awaara, a 1951 film and the later Boot Polish. These films call attention to the less fortunate and, in the case of Awaara, the vagabond whose life of crime is the inevitable outcome of growing up in the slums. In Awaara, Kapoor's real father (Prithviraj Kapoor) plays a heartless judge who accuses his pregnant wife (Leela Chitnis) of infidelity after she was kidnapped by bandits and throws her out of his home (the logic of this eludes me since she was already pregnant when kidnapped). The stern judge staunchly believes that a thief's son will always be a thief and a good man's son will always turn out good. In a series of flashbacks, the film dramatizes the unfortunate consequences of this belief system. Raju, played by the director Raj Kapoor as an adult and by his brother Sashi Kapoor as a child, is born on the streets and grows up in the slums. Under the guidance of a ruthless bandit named Jagga (K. N. Singh), he turns to stealing to help support his mother. Raj has little to comfort him except for a picture hanging on the bare walls of his house of Rita, his childhood sweetheart played by the stunning Nargis, a real life lover of Kapoor. The romance between Raj and Rita is one of the central motifs of the film and the chemistry between the two is electric. This is especially evident in the boat scene where she performs an exotic dance to the Dum Bhar song, and after she calls him a junglee (savage) and he slaps her in an incident that serves to bring them closer together. Raju, the tramp, is forced to live on his wits but does so with humor and a Chaplinesque charm. When he finds out the true circumstances of his childhood, however, he sets out to get revenge against his father, the judge, and ends up facing a charge of attempted murder in the judge's own courtroom. Rita, a lawyer herself, defends him as she promised she would years ago. She puts the judge on the witness stand and asks pointed questions about how he condemned his wife and child to a lifetime of poverty. Rita holds him and society responsible for the conditions that led Raju to commit his crime and asks the judge to forgive him and admit that Raju is his son. Raju, in turn, offers an impassioned plea to the court to punish him as a criminal but not to neglect the conditions that gave rise to his life of crime. In the end, a very moving scene of attempted reconciliation between father and son had me wiping away the tears. Awaara is reminiscent of both 40s film-noir with its dark cobblestone streets and menacing shadows and, in its social conscience, of the great Italian neo-realists like de Sica. But basically, Awaara is still in the Bollywood tradition; that means drama, romance, music, comedy, and action -- all put together in a total package to appeal to a wide audience. With great songs and dances, amazing dream sequences, style and panache, strong drama, and an inspiring message, it is not surprising that Awaara became one of the most popular films in Indian cinematic history. It is one of my favorites as well.
Magnificent, all-singing, all-dancing feast
A magnificent film - entertainment (singing dancing, sweet, sweet pathos) and excitement - who can forget the crazy Heaven/Hell sequence. The film is marred only by Raj's occasional violence to the character played by Nargis. The songs are of a consistent hight quality. I have only one question - whatever happened to Honey O'Brien?