Awaara most popular film of all times, say UK film experts

[netfree]

LONDON: The 1951 Raj Kapoor starrer "Awaara", which has been seen and enjoyed by a large number of people across the globe, can be a candidate for the title of the "most popular film of all times", feel British film experts.

Dina Iordanova, professor at the University of St Andrews, and other experts cite several texts and anecdotal evidence to state in a special issue of the journal "South Asian Popular Cinema" that "Awaara" may be a candidate for the title of the "most popular film of all times".

The journal issue maps the career of Indian films in various national contexts outside South Asia and includes several papers exploring the popularity of Indian films in places such as Greece, Bulgaria, Africa and Turkey.

The papers cast fresh light on the popularity of Indian films beyond the better-known overseas markets such as the US and Britain.

The special issue is titled "Indian Cinema Abroad: Historiography of Transnational Cinematic Exchanges" and is co-edited by Iordanova and Dimitris Eleftheriotis of Glasgow University. Iordanova and others write extensively on "Awaara" in the issue.

Recalling her Bulgarian origins and childhood, Iordanova told PTI, "I knew Indian films long before I had met any living Indian. We knew next to nothing of India and the Indians; we did not know much of the personality of Raj Kapoor either.

"However, the fascination with a film like "Awaara" (Brodyaga in Bulgarian) was everlasting; everybody knew the actor's ever-singing dancing persona. Nothing could match up to the experience of watching "Awaara"; this film was more fascinating than any other I can remember," she said.