The Dialogue of Awaara: Raj Kapoor’s Immortal Classic

Description

The Dialogue of Awaara, Raj Kapoor’s Immortal Classic is a book for lovers of both cinema and language, featuring K.A. Abbas’s original screenplay and dialogue, based on a story by K.A. Abbas and V.P. Sathe. A seriously neglected area of Indian cinema is the subject of film dialogue. Though cinema is mainly a visual experience, it is through dialogue that we know the thoughts and emotions of the film’s characters. Through K.A. Abbas’s words and the poetic songs by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, Awaara’s Judge Raghunath (Prithviraj Kapoor), Raj (Raj Kapoor) and Rita (Nargis) come alive. The film has a wonderful mix of one-liners, quips, punchlines and catchphrases while being modern, witty and full of nuance. Awaara’s dialogue and songs have been carefully transcribed from the film’s original soundtrack by Suhail Akhtar and Vijay Jani and presented in Hindi, Urdu and Roman scripts. The English translation of the dialogue, an introduction and commentary are by Nasreen Munni Kabir. With a foreword by Randhir Kapoor, this unique book also features many stills from a most loved and enduring classic by Raj Kapoor, one of Indian cinema’s master filmmakers.

Nasreen Munni Kabir

Nasreen Munni Kabir is a London-based documentary filmmaker/author who has made several documentaries produced for Channel 4 TV (UK) including Follow that Star (a profile of Amitabh Bachchan, 1989), the series Movie Mahal and The Inner/Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan (2005, Chanel 4/Red Chillies). She has also written several books on Hindi cinema, including Guru Dutt, a life in cinema, Talking Films/Talking Songs with Javed Akhtar, and The Immortal Dialogue of Mughal-e-Azam. Born in Hyderabad, India, she has lived most of her life in the UK. In 1999, she won the first Asian Womens’ Achievement Award for promoting Indian cinema in the UK, and has been a governor on the board of the British Film Institute. She has also been a consultant to Channel 4 for over 25 years.