Film scholar Sanjay Mukhopadhyay recently told me that Yuri Gagarin watched Awaara before leaving for space. I instantly remembered Raj Kapoor's publicist V.P. Sathe talking about this in 1989. Sathe had said that Gagarin watched Awaara to relate to the loneliness of the character Kapoor portrayed in his trend-setting 1951 film.
No other Indian actor or director was as popular in Russia, Eastern Europe and China as Kapoor was. The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow started with 'Mera Joota Hai Japani, his immortal number in Shree 420. 'Awaara Hoon' was a personal favourite of Mao Zedong. People in almost all socialist countries loved his songs.
This story is from the December 22, 2024 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the December 22, 2024 edition of THE WEEK India.
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