Review of the Hindi Film Awara

Review of the Hindi Film, Awara

Awara is a 1952 Hindi film directed by Raj Kapoor, who also starred as the major protagonist. The classic, arguably Kapoor’s most celebrated work, is both a love story and social satire. The plot unfolds when Jagga’s bandits abduct a pregnant prosecutor’s wife as revenge for an unfair rape conviction. As vllagers' gossip unfurls, rumours surface as to the real identity of the child’s father. Overwhelmed by his own doubts, public mockery, household taunting, and the threats that these pose to his professional ambitions, Prosecutor Raghunath abandons his pregnant wife, throwing her out into the streets, where she gives birth to their son Raju. 

Final Court Scene

She is resigned to a life of poverty in the slums; however, intent on providing her son with an education, she struggles singularly to meet their basic needs. As Raju grows, he is constantly reminded of his disadvantages and subaltern status through his efforts to nurture his friendship with his beautiful and wealthy classmate, Rita. Distressed by his mother’s overexertion to feed them, he decides to polish shoes when not in school to earn income, but his street hustles interrupt his class attendance, and before long he is thrown out of school and into the grasp of the bandit, Jagga, who turns him into a thief. 



Raju Kicked Out of School

As a young thug preparing for a major heist, he incidentally regains contact with Rita, transforming their childhood friendship into a passionate romance. Their reunification drives Raju to atonement, but Judge Raghunath, Rita’s guardian, disproves of the relationship, frustrating their romance and Raju’s efforts at rehabilitation. When Raju discovers that Judge Raghunath is his father, he attempts to kill him, sending Rita, the novice attorney, into a quagmire that forces her to wrestle with loyalty to guardian, lover, and the law. Her efforts do not acquit Raju, but saves his life and forces Judge Raghunath to come to terms with his past and conscience.  

Judge Raghunath Struggles With His Conscience.

The film straddles the exploration of post-colonial identity and the irreconcilable philosophical and cultural differences between traditional Indian values and Western ideology. It is as much a Hollywood duplicate as it is not, in aesthetic and form. Copying Hollywood stylistics, it embraces the Chaplinesque technique of speeding up the reel, fleetingly and fancifully. Its lighting and location choices are common Hollywood features, although the amateurish fight sequences appear more as Hollywood parodies than replicas.

The Hollywood Pastiche in Awara

The film seems uncertain of its particular political agenda: at times it appears to critique the class and social inequalities of the newly independent India, at other times it appears to flirt with the values of the elites and bourgeoisie, and in rare moments, it sporadically celebrates the inevitable struggles of indigent survival.  Indubitably, the film, which perhaps reflects the Indian psyche at the time, portrays deep cynicism at the judicial system and the social hierarchies which post-colonialism reconstitutes.

When a Street Dog is Your Only Friend!

However, the euphemistic and melodramatic song and dance that intersperse major plot points arguably work to subdue the poignant critiques of Indian society that the narrative offers. They seem to remind the readers that this is in no way a revolutionary commentary, but an artistic expression of cultural life, a reinforcement of moral values, and a compelling romantic tale. Interestingly, these performances also offer insights into constructions of gender roles within Indian cinema typical of this epoch, men and women never dance together, but rather in segregated phalanxes, always fully clad, and almost asexual, except when Western cultural mimicry is integral to the message, as was the case with the seductive dancer at the bar with Jagga and his bandits. In that scene, her eurocentric role is demoralized and overtly rejected, most vividly marked by a dismissive shove from Raju.

Raju Secretly Enters Rita's Room

While the film interrogates maternal fidelity and honor, it disrupts common cinematic images of paternity and masculinity by suggesting that in a capitalist driven society filial responsibility often becomes subservient to other, more celebrated values within patriarchal society, that of male honor, individual determination, and professional mobility.

Raju and his Chaplinesque Strut

Conclusively, Awara carries aesthetic trappings and production codes of Italian Neorealism and French Surrealism, with its dark narrative and internal conflicts. From a narrative standpoint, it exploits the oedipal myth of the son avenging his mother’s honor by killing his dishonorable father. Overall, an optimistic film that may leave the viewer in awe of the sophistication of early Indian cinema.