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“Vagabond” in Hindi, “Awaara”, was Raj Kapoor‘s third feature as a producer-director and his twenty-second as an actor. His sense of scale was grand. His ambitions were even grander. His message was as clear as the lenses he chose. And the result was, for better, worse, and everything in between, one of the most extravagant explorations of love’s triumphs in the history of cinema.

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The tale starts with the main character Raj (Raj Kapoor) sitting in court, on trial for the attempted murder of Judge Raghunath (Prithviraj Kapoor). As the presiding judge explains, the case seems straightforward: Raj, a working-class man with a known past as a criminal, attacks a respected public servant without apparent provocation. That is, until his attorney and apparent lover Rita (Nargis) begins to argue that despite his flagrant guilt, there is a deeper story behind the act.

Last month while attending a Bollywood event at the London School Of Economics, Rishi Kapoor, never known to mince words, got into a heated argument with Rachel Dwyer - yes, the same Bollywood expert who has researched extensively on Hindi films and actors. Apparently, the well-informed lady argued with Rishi Kapoor over a vital question: which is Rishi Kapoor's first film? Every record of his achievements states it is Mera Naam Joker. But Rachel Dwyer with her vast storehouse of knowledge on Hindi cinema insisted it was Shree 420 where Rishi along with his brother Randhir and sister Reema made a fleeting appearance. Apparently, the question blew up into a heated argument between the actor and film historian with neither willing to concede defeat. Rishi doesn't deny that he took on Ms Dwyer. "How can she claim Shree 420 was my debut? I was just a 2-year old kid...