Toronto film fest to premier digitally restored Raj Kapoor classic ‘Awara’

The 49th edition of North America’s largest film festival will begin on September 5 and runs through September 15

Toronto: The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will mark the birth centenary year of Indian cinema legend Raj Kapoor with a world premiere of a digital restoration of one of his classics, Awara, next month.

A still from Raj Kapoor’s Awara, a restored digital version of which will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. (Credit: TIFF)

The screening of the film, made in 1951, will occur during the 49th edition of North America’s largest film festival, which begins on September 5 and runs through September 15.

The high-quality 4K restoration of the film, with its digital enhancement of the original print, was undertaken by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and the National Film Archive as part of the National Film Heritage Mission of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The screening was made possible after NFDC officials contacted TIFF to make this cinematic event possible, TIFF’s director of programming Robyn Citizen told the Hindustan Times. “It’s a gorgeous restoration and all of the songs that everybody’s familiar with will be there. So we just really wanted to have this as part of this year’s selection,” she said.

Awara, directed by Raj Kapoor, who also stars in it, will be part of the Classics showcase at this year’s festival, which is programmed by Citizen and TIFF’s senior curator Andrea Picard. “It’s a special kind of moment. We’re always looking to highlight international auteurs in our Classics programme,” TIFF’s chief programming officer Anita Lee said.

Described as the Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema, Kapoor has been featured by TIFF in the past as well. A major retrospective of his films was hosted by TIFF in 2011, under the title, “Raj Kapoor and the Golden Age of Indian Cinema”.

In its description of the film, TIFF said, “A highly influential classic of Bollywood cinema, Awara has enjoyed international popularity (it was nominated for the Grand Prize at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival) and critical praise, this is a vibrant, sensuous, and casually progressive must-see.”

This follows platforming of another Indian film legend, director Satyajit Ray, in 2022, when a 4K restoration of Agantuk, originally released in 1991, played at the festival. That came soon after a showcase, “Satyajit Ray: His Contemporaries and Legacy”, featured in August, consisting of ten films, including four by Ray.