Stay tuned to our new posts and updates! Click to join us on WhatsApp L&C-Whatsapp & Telegram telegram Channel
ISSN 2231 - 699X | A Publication on Cinema & Allied Art Forms
 
 
Support LnC-Silhouette. Great reading for everyone, supported by readers. SUPPORT
L&C-Silhouette Subscribe
The L&C-Silhouette Basket
L&C-Silhouette Basket
A hand-picked basket of cherries from the world of most talked about books and popular posts on creative literature, reviews and interviews, movies and music, critiques and retrospectives ...
to enjoy, ponder, wonder & relish!

Awara’s Dream Sequence: An Analysis

December 21, 2024 | By

Raj Kapoor’s success as a producer and director lies in his understanding of the importance of film music. It is showcased in Awara’s famous dream sequence. That single sequence was choreographed by Madam Simkie, Uday Shankar’s dance partner, and was arguably influenced by the picturisation of the dream sequences in Shankar’s Kalpana.

Awara 1951

Awara (1951)

In the mid-50s when Satyajit Ray was making inroads in the West with his Bengali films, Raj Kapoor was also taking his Hindi films beyond the country’s borders. Ray’s films adorned all the prestigious film festivals of Europe right from his entry with Pather Panchali. Kapoor’s films, viz. Awara (1951) and Shree 420 (Mr 420, 1955) swept through Iran, Iraq and Syria, Turkey, Egypt and very importantly, the erstwhile Soviet Union. Sooner than later, Raj Kapoor, who was the hero in most of his early films and his heroine Nargis, became the first most popular national stars away from India.

Aag (Fire) in 1948 was Kapoor’s first attempt at donning the hats of both producer and director along with playing the hero. But his raging success in all three profiles was first achieved in Awara.

Awara opens with a high-tension courtroom scene, where Raj, a young vagabond charged with murder, is being tried. Rita, Judge Raghunath’s ward, whom we soon understand is Raj’s lover, has stepped in defend him and is now cross-examining her foster father. It appears that Raghunath’s past is connected to the case at hand.

As the story progresses, we come to know how the conservative, morally upright Raghunath, much like his namesake Lord Rama, had thrown his innocent wife out of his home suspecting her chastity. Raj is Raghunath’s son indeed, born in a slum and raised therein. Raghunath believes that a man’s future is dictated by his genes; a criminal’s son will be a criminal, a gentleman owes his manners to his parents. At the very end of the film, Raj pleads to the judge and to the audience for a society that doesn’t believe in Raghunath’s dogma – that no one is born a criminal, it is society that forces one into a life of crime.

awara

Shashi Kapoor as the young Raj

Poor and destitute, we find Raj unable to make a decent life for himself since childhood. Despite his mother’s earnest attempts to teach him how to lead a respectable life, young Raj is drawn to delinquency time and again. When he grows up, Raj runs into Rita who, under Raghunath’s care, has been brought up amidst affluence. Rita loves Raj deeply and understands why Raj succumbs to a life of crime, which is easier to get into than leave.

Awara came close on the heels of India’s Independence. Hence the glorification of a young vagrant is significant. Four years later in Shree 420, Kapoor posited a similar thesis: that, to succeed one needs to be immoral; one must sell his ethics and his honour. In profiling the tramp as the hero, Kapoor was, in a sense, imitating Charlie Chaplin. But his conviction that the hypocrisy and double standards of the older generation is responsible for the corruption of the youth subtly underlines the narrative. Yet, in these two films and in others around the same time, Kapoor, instead of being cynically political, camouflages the message with lilting background music and spectacular dance numbers.

Raj Kapoor’s success as a producer and director lies in his understanding of the importance of film music as the popular mass music of a young nation craving for a national identity. The height of Kapoor’s craftsmanship as a director is showcased in Awara’s famous dream sequence. That single sequence was choreographed by Madam Simkie, Uday Shankar’s dance partner, arguably influenced by the picturisation of the dream sequences in Shankar’s Kalpana.

The sequence occurs at a critical juncture in the film and conveys Raj’s understanding of his predicament. It gives Raj, waking up from his dream, the necessary will to confront his demons, to decide with clarity that he will refrain from criminal activities in the future and live a respectable life. The sequence comprises four parts, each with a distinct visual imagery, a different musical form, and a unique choreography. The first part shows the world divine, a new life beckoning to Raj, a life with Rita in her pristine purity. Amongst the billowing clouds, beautiful girls draped in white dance on a flight of steps that lead to a spiral tower. Rita, at the bottom of the tower, pleads earnestly, “Tu aaja” (come here, dear).

A new life beckoning to Raj, a life with Rita in her pristine purity

The second part comes as a sharp contrast, plunging us into the depths of Raj’s conception of hell. The tower is replaced by a huge, gigantic demon with oversized skulls and lustrous eyes. The dancing damsels are replaced by grotesque dark figures with horns on their heads. Instead of the soothing white clouds, there is fire, the heat of the flames beating down on Raj who cries in desperation, Mujhko yeh narak na chahiye / mujhko phool, mujhko geet, mujhko preet chahiye / mujhko chahiye bahaar (I don’t want this hell / I want flowers, I want music, I want love / I want spring). Even in his agony, this is Raj’s declaration of the moral choice he will take, waking up.

Raj Kapoor

Mujhko yeh narak na chahiye

In the third part of the dream, Raj is transported back to a life with Rita. The billowing clouds are back, so is the spiral tower. A huge trimurti (the Hindu symbol of the three gods – Shiva, Brahma and Bishnu) is visible and sanctity is restored. Chants of Om Namah Shivay fill the screen, and Rita, along with the other dancers, are seen happily dancing in front of a statue of Nataraja, the dancing form of Lord Shiva. It is a dance of harmony, acceptance and peace as Rita leads Raj up the tower singing Ghar aya mera pardesi (My beloved has returned home). As the two seem to fade into the impenetrable chastity of a moral white, the fourth and ultimate part of the dream brings a gigantic figure of Jaggu, the criminal who threatens Raj with dire consequences if he ever thinks of moving on to a different life.

Raj Kapoor Nargis - ghar aya mera pardesi (Awara)

Rita leads Raj up the tower singing Ghar aya mera pardesi

 

The dream sequence, effective because of its symbolism that enabled Kapoor to be extravagant without being burdened by the need to be real highlights the glaring contrast between Raj’s binary worlds – the amoral street life that he begins to see as hell and the tranquil, peaceful life with Rita with its promise of love and affluence. Through the images of stairs and its lead to a coveted dream, Kapoor was also addressing the social fantasy of the masses. The spiral tower signifies a social status that everyone in the audience can relate to as an unattainable goal. Climbing the stairs [and the subsequent fall] is also. Relatable. It is to Kapoor’s credit that through this dream sequence alone, he could take Raj’s story beyond the hero’s moral, social, and psychological conflict to his audience who, three years after India’s coveted independence, had begun to feel the heat of disillusionment.

Awara was a big hit and was dubbed in other languages as well. The film took Soviet Russia by storm and prints were even flown to two Soviet expeditions near the North pole. While most of Indian cinema’s stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak to latter day masters have spoken about the lives of the masses through their films, it was Raj Kapoor’s films of the fifties, primarily Awara and Shree 420 that effectively spoke to the masses. Through the character of the tramp, much like his inspiration from the similar character in Chaplin’s films, Kapoor reached out to the impoverished, dejected citizens of the world.

Awara ends with Raj being imprisoned for three years. But after that he will be out of prison where happiness awaits him. For every Raj, there will always be a Rita, waiting in anticipation.

Tere bina aag yeh chandni (Awara, 1951) Shankar Jaikishan / Shailendra / Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey

 

Click Raj Kapoor@100

for Critiques, Reviews, Interviews

— The Centenary Tribute Series

Raj Kapoor Centenary Special

Creative Writing

Whether you are new or veteran, you are important. Please contribute with your articles on cinema, we are looking forward for an association. Send your writings to amitava@silhouette-magazine.com

Amitava Nag is an independent film critic based in Kolkata and editor of Silhouette. His most recent books on cinema are Murmurs: Silent Steals with Soumitra Chatterjee, 16 Frames and Smriti Sattwa o Cinema. His earlier writings include the acclaimed books Satyajit Ray’s Heroes and Heroines published by Rupa and Beyond Apu: 20 Favourite film roles of Soumitra Chatterjee published by Harper Collins India. He also writes poetry and short fiction in Bengali and English – observing life in a platter. He can be reached at amitavanag.net.
All Posts of Amitava Nag

Hope you enjoyed reading…

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading and supporting our creative, informative and analytical posts than ever before. And yes, we are firmly set on the path we chose when we started… our twin magazines Learning and Creativity and Silhouette Magazine (LnC-Silhouette) will be accessible to all, across the world.

We are editorially independent, not funded, supported or influenced by investors or agencies. We try to keep our content easily readable in an undisturbed interface, not swamped by advertisements and pop-ups. Our mission is to provide a platform you can call your own creative outlet and everyone from renowned authors and critics to budding bloggers, artists, teen writers and kids love to build their own space here and share with the world.

When readers like you contribute, big or small, it goes directly into funding our initiative. Your support helps us to keep striving towards making our content better. And yes, we need to build on this year after year. Support LnC-Silhouette with a little amount – and it only takes a minute. Thank you

Support LnC-Silhouette

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Silhouette Magazine publishes articles, reviews, critiques and interviews and other cinema-related works, artworks, photographs and other publishable material contributed by writers and critics as a friendly gesture. The opinions shared by the writers and critics are their personal opinion and does not reflect the opinion of Silhouette Magazine. Images on Silhouette Magazine are posted for the sole purpose of academic interest and to illuminate the text. The images and screen shots are the copyright of their original owners. Silhouette Magazine strives to provide attribution wherever possible. Images used in the posts have been procured from the contributors themselves, public forums, social networking sites, publicity releases, YouTube, Pixabay and Creative Commons. Please inform us if any of the images used here are copyrighted, we will pull those images down.