Awara Hoon
Awara Hoon (Hindi: आवारा हूँ; Urdu: آواره هوں; Russian: Авара Гу) was an internationally popular song from the 1951 classic Hindi film, Awaara, starring Raj Kapoor.[1][2] The song was written in the Hindi-Urdu or Hindustani language by lyricist Shailendra and sung by Mukesh.[3] Awara Hoon immediately struck "a chord in audiences from various classes and backgrounds all over India and beyond: in China, in the Soviet Union, in the Middle East."[4] In China, "both the song and film were said to be Chairman Mao's favourites."[1]
Local versions
The popularity of Awara Hoon led to the creation of localized versions of the song in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, China,[5] and Romania.
Example verse
The refrain of the song is Awara Hoon, which means I am a vagabond/tramp. The song is in Hindi-Urdu, which is usually written in either Devanagari or Nastaliq. It has a catchy, rhythmic tempo with several short lines interposed with a few slightly longer ones.
| Hindi |
Transcription |
English translation |
आबाद नहीं
बरबाद सही
गाता हूँ ख़ुशी के गीत मगर
ज़ख़्मों से भरा सीना है मेरा
हंसती है मगर ये मस्त नज़र
दुनिया!
मैं तेरे तीर का
या तक़दीर का
मारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
या गर्दिश में हूँ, आसमान का तारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
आवारा हूँ
|
ābād nahin
barbād sahi
gātā hoon khushi ké geet magar
zakhmon sé bharā sinā hai mérā
hansti hai magar yé mast nazar
duniyā!
main téré teer kā
yā taqdeer kā
mārā hoon
āwārā hoon
āwārā hoon
yā gardish mein hoon, āsmān ka tārā hoon
āwārā hoon
āwārā hoon
|
I am not settled
Yes, I am devastated/ruined
But I sing songs of happiness
My chest/breast is full of wounds
But my carefree gaze laughs
World!
Your arrows/barbs
Or the fates
Have destroyed me
I am a vagabond/wanderer
I am a vagabond/wanderer
Or I am a star of the sky, doing its circuits
I am a vagabond/wanderer
I am a vagabond/wanderer
|
See also
References
- ^ a b Linda Badley, R. Barton Palmer, Steven Jay Schneider, Traditions in world cinema, Rutgers University Press, 2006, ISBN 9780813538747, http://books.google.com/books?id=FKdY0HVF0ukC, "... To this day 'Awara hoon' ('I'ma vagabond'), the title song of Raj Kapoor's Awara ('The Vagabond', 1951) remains well known throughout Russia, which the director- star visited, and China, where both the song and film were said to be Chairman Mao's favourites ..."
- ^ Natasa Ďurovičová, World cinemas, transnational perspectives, Taylor & Francis, 2010, ISBN 9780415976534, http://books.google.com/books?id=MtHiGs5e2w8C, "... hearing the hit theme song “Awara Hoon” (“I am wayward”) hummed on the streets of Nanjing. Then, traveling through a small town in a more remote part of China, Seth has to perform the song on request at a local gathering: 'No sooner have I begun than I find that the musicians have struck up the accompaniment behind me: they know the tune better than I do ..."
- ^ Ashraf Aziz, Light of the universe: essays on Hindustani film music, Three Essays Collective, 2003, ISBN 9788188789078, http://books.google.com/books?id=cOUIAQAAMAAJ, "... Its title song Awara hoon, written by Shailendra, remains the best-appreciated Hindustani film song in foreign countries ..."
- ^ Bhaskar Sarkar, Mourning the nation: Indian cinema in the wake of Partition, Duke University Press, 2009, ISBN 9780822344117, http://books.google.com/books?id=wghFNlpM3PIC, "... When Raj sings cheerfully about the pleasures of being a street-smart vagabond (“Awara Hoon”), he strikes a chord in audiences from various classes and backgrounds all over India and beyond: in China, in the Soviet Union, in the Middle East ..."
- ^ Tejaswini Ganti, Bollywood: a guidebook to popular Hindi cinema, Psychology Press, 2004, ISBN 9780415288538, http://books.google.com/books?id=TdH0vxihcS8C, "... Their title track for Awara, “Awara Hoon” (I'ma vagabond) was immensely popular world-wide, leading to local versions of the song in Greece, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, and China ..."