In this weekly column, we revisit the gems of the golden years of Hindi cinema. This week, we revisit Raj Kapoor’s 1951 movie Awara.
Awara is the story of a person who comes from the opposite facet of the tracks however is unaware of him, who has been the topic of his merciless use of nature versus nurture since his beginning. Raj, performed by Raj Kapoor, grew up within the streets of Mumbai and has accepted himself. awara Lifestyle is the one option to reside. When he sings “Gharbar nah sansar nahin, no one loves me” within the track “Awara Hoon”, he’s not asking for sympathy, however the truth is, has made peace with every little thing he has in life .
Unlike many individuals round him who steal and cheat to earn cash, Raj has a conscience that’s buried below the mark of survival that led him from jail to jail in his teenagers. . When he meets Rita, who’s in love along with her childhood pal, performed by Nargis, Vivek wakes up and realizes that every little thing isn’t misplaced but. The wrestle of excellent versus evil inside him kinds the wrestle of the protagonist right here.
The central wrestle of the tramp is that of nature versus nurture. Raj’s organic father, Judge Raghunath, performed by his real-life father Prithviraj, break up from his spouse through the being pregnant as he was satisfied that the kid couldn’t be his. This deeply intimidates their ego as a result of they imagine {that a} man’s life is dictated by his lineage. As there is no such thing as a option to do away with his suspicions, he decides to take his spouse out and he or she provides beginning to their little one on the streets, actually.
Raj doesn’t know a lot about his father. His mom has advised him that he was a great man and needs him to be a revered man as nicely, however the system has no alternative however to steal from him and make his means by a lifetime. Trapped within the cycle of poverty, one in all him. Is reprimanded for being awara Even when he decides to stroll on the trail of honesty. At one level, Raj additionally questions his employer that if he won’t ever be given an opportunity to reside an sincere life, how will he ever grow to be an individual residing an sincere life? When Awara was launched in 1951, India was a really younger nation and the movie has lots to do with the time given the financial situation of the nation.
It is Rita’s presence, even within the type of an image that reminds Raj of the sincere man he was as a baby. It is subsequently crucial to look at how he’s portrayed by the movie. While her character is depicted as an impartial girl, it’s her portrayal inside their romantic relationship that appears a bit disturbing.
In an vital scene of the movie, Raj slaps Rita within the face by calling her ‘Junglee’. While she states it playfully, he takes it personally and is violently disturbed by it. It is evident that Raj is a wounded man who has by no means discovered to deal with his insecurities, however the best way he treats Rita appears unjust. But Rita’s response to this case makes the scene much more uncomfortable. She bends over and surrenders.
The position of ladies on this society was clearly not equal to that of males. We can not confidently affirm this in 2021, so there is no such thing as a level in difficult it within the early Nineteen Fifties. For the filmmaker, he has designed Rita as a lady who’s assured, can deal with the world, is an informed lawyer, however will bow all the way down to her male when wanted. It is unattainable to disregard the type of display screen presence in Nargis’s movie. Her chemistry with Raj is value watching and her love story is such that you’re instantly implied for her, till the scene above, and from then on, you begin questioning Rita’s conditioning on this society, which has Has put him below a person and compelled him. To play him in a job the place he won’t ever get the respect he deserves.
Awara launched the idea of dream sequences in Hindi movies.
Awara was the landmark movie of Raj Kapoor’s profession. The movie was celebrated for its music by Shankar Jaikishan and lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jayapuri. “Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi”, the dream sequence track for the primary time in Hindi cinema, will nonetheless go away you in awe for its imaginative execution. It is claimed that Raj Kapoor’s character right here was a job mannequin for Charlie Chaplin, however now on re-watching the movie, you notice that though there are some similarities, the filmmaker deserves credit score for creating an authentic character. Which is deeply embedded within the native atmosphere.
The tramp is about in an period the place it was virtually unattainable to get out of the vicious cycle of poverty, and surprisingly, instances haven’t modified a lot within the final 70 years.
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Awara is streaming on Shemarumi.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
