Awaara

<p>Raghunath, a wealthy district judge who believes that ” “, convicts Jagga, son of a criminal, of with thin evidence. Jagga later escapes and kidnaps the judge’s wife, Leela, for revenge. When Jagga finds out that Leela has just become pregnant, he releases her after four days and changes his plan. However, people suspect Leela of and Raghunath throws her out of their house, rejecting her pleas that the child is his. Leela gives birth to Raj on the streets, and they both live in poverty. Raj befriends Rita in school. He is removed from the school rolls while trying to maintain a job as a , and Rita moves to another city. Jagga convinces Raj to steal in order to save his starving mother. Raj grows up into a skilled criminal, going in and out of jail, and works for Jagga’s gang. Leela thinks that he is a businessman. Raj never forgets Rita, keeping her birthday picture at his home. For a , Jagga asks Raj to steal an automobile. He snatches a woman’s purse when she steps out of the car but finds no keys. He pretends to pursue the thief in order to ward off any suspicion and returns the purse to the woman, who is charmed by his personality and apparent selflessness. Later, when Raj successfully steals a car, he hides from the police in a mansion where he meets the same woman. Seeing the same birthday picture, Raj realises that she is his school friend Rita. He tells Rita he’s a thief, but his figurative statements make her think he is a finance professional. Rita, now studying law, is a ward of Raghunath, who is suspicious when he hears that Raj doesn’t know who his father is. Raj and Rita fall in love. Worrying that Rita will not accept him due to his thievery, Raj starts working at a factory but is fired when the manager finds out that he was a thief. Rita invites him to her birthday party. Raj goes back to Jagga for a loan so that he can buy a gift for her. Jagga mocks his attempts to reform and asks him to commit more crimes. Raj refuses but later steals a necklace from a man on the street, not knowing the man was Raghunath. At Rita’s birthday, when Raj gives her a necklace without a case and Raghunath gives her a case without a necklace, she realises that Raj is indeed a thief. Rita goes to Raj’s mother and learns his life story. She decides that Raj is not bad but was forced into committing crimes by bad influences and desperate surroundings. Raj is ashamed, still believing he is no good for her, but Rita forgives him. Raj goes to Raghunath to ask if he can marry Rita, but the judge turns him away. Meanwhile, Jagga and the gang commit the bank robbery, but it goes wrong and they have to run from the police. Jagga hides in Raj’s house, where Leela recognizes him and he attacks her. Raj enters and fights him off, killing Jagga in . Raj goes on trial for Jagga’s death, with Raghunath as the judge. When Leela goes to the courthouse to provide her eyewitness account, she sees Raghunath and chases after him but is struck by a car. Rita collects the testimony from Leela in the hospital, and later Raj is allowed to visit her. Leela tells Raj that Raghunath is his father and asks her son to forgive him. Raj only becomes angry at Raghunath for making him and his mother suffer. Raj escapes from jail and tries to kill Raghunath for revenge but is stopped by Rita. Rita defends Raj in the trial for , who reveals the father-son relationship. Raj chooses not to defend his actions and says that he is a bad man. He asks the court not to think of him, but the millions of other children who grow up in poverty and end up turning to crime because high society does not care about them. While he awaits his verdict, Raj is visited by Raghunath, who finally accepts that Raj is his son and tearfully asks for forgiveness. In the end, Raj is spared execution but sentenced to three years in prison for his crime. He promises that after getting released, he will reform himself for Rita, who promises to wait for him. The music for this film was composed by while the songs were written by and . The soundtrack was listed by Planet Bollywood as number 3 on their list of 100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks. The song ” ” was used in the Malayalam film directed by and starring . was the best-selling album of the 1950s. The film is a collaboration of the famous team of director/producer Raj Kapoor and writer . Abbas originally wanted to direct the film, but the two disagreed over the casting. Khan wanted to play the judge and the son. In the event, Abbas withdrew his script from and Raj Kapoor decided to direct it. This film was filmed in and . In his column for the , Kapoor wrote, “In I tried to prove that Vagabonds , but are created in the , in the midst of dire and evil environment.” It was entered in the , where it was nominated for the (Palme d’Or). In 1955, it was voted the best film of the year by readers of Turkish daily . In 2003, magazine included it in a list of “10 Indian Films to Treasure”. magazine also chose Raj Kapoor’s performance in as one of the top ten greatest performances of all time. In 2005, ranked the movie amongst the “Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films”, writing: “Whenever Raj Kapoor and Nargis came together on screen, sparks flew. Their chemistry was electrifying and it crackles with raw passion in Raj Kapoor’s . Nargis’s wild and carefree sensuality pulsates and Raj Kapoor’s scruffy hair-rebellious persona only adds fuel to the fire”. magazine included the film among the 20 new entries added to in 2012. In , the film grossed a record of in 1951, making it the highest-grossing film in India up until that time. This record was later beaten the next year by ‘s (1952), starring , which grossed in 1952. In , released in 1955. The film sold 100,000 tickets in its first week of release in Turkey. The total number of box office admissions in Turkey is currently unknown. In the , was released in 1954, debuting at Indian film festivals in and which drew about viewers in four days. By the end of the year, it drew an audience of about 64 million viewers in its initial run, the highest for any at the time, until its record was surpassed by in 1962. At the Soviet box office, remained the most-viewed , the third biggest foreign hit of all time, and one of the top 20 biggest hits of all time. In terms of , earned 29 million ( 7.25 million, ) in its initial run, surpassing to become the at the time. s 29 million руб was eventually surpassed by (1982), which grossed 60 million руб in the Soviet Union. Including re-runs, which were running for 10–12 years, s footfalls in the Soviet Union amounted to about 100 million box office admissions, which remains among the highest for an Indian film in an overseas market. The film was also a success in , where it first released in 1955. In its opening week, the film sold tickets, including admissions earning a income of about 100,000 in alone. Its opening-week ticket sales were equivalent to estimated opening-week rentals of approximately CNÂ¥280,000 ( ). Prior to its 1978 re-release, the film’s initial run had sold a total of 40 million tickets in China. The film’s 1978 re-release was a greater commercial success in China. Following its re-release, the film went on to sell a total of more than 100 million tickets, and was the second highest-grossing Indian film in China behind only ‘s (1971). The song ” ” and actor were widely known across China and the Soviet Union. The film’s success in both the Soviet Union and China has been attributed to the themes expressed in the film. The film and the song “Awaara Hoon” are believed to have been among ‘s favourite films and songs, respectively. was referenced in the 2000 . In 2023, ranked it #20 on its list of the “100 Best Bollywood Movies.” Due to the film’s remarkable success with Turkish audiences, was remade in a total of eight times. The first and most prominent remake was (1964) starring actor and actress , another Turkish remake was (1977) by Temel Gürsu. There was also an remake, called (1967). However, this version may have been a remake of the Turkish remake , rather than a direct remake of the original .</p>