The Dialogue of Awaara

Niyogi Books

Pages: 261

Rs 1,250

In 1949,K.A. Abbas and V.P. Sathe wrote a story based on an incident involving Abbass uncle,a sessions judge,who believed honesty was hereditary until his own son landed in court,accused of stealing. When Raj Kapoor heard the story of a tramp who is accused of attempting to murder his father,a magistrate he immediately gave Abbas a rupee as a token signing amount and said,This is mine. On December 14,1949,the day he turned 25,Kapoor began filming it. The movie was called Awaara and it cost a princely Rs 25 lakh. If you dig screenplays,here is the dialogue of Awaara transcribed in Urdu and Hindi as well as transliterated and translated into English by Nasreen Munni Kabir. There is also a nugget-filled introduction and commentary.

The Foreigner

Arun Joshi

Orient Paperbacks

Pages: 192

Rs 225

Arun Joshi 1938-93 wrote just five novels,including the marvellous The Strange Case of Billy Biswas and The Last Labyrinth that won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1982. A vastly underrated writer,Joshi deserves to be rediscovered. The Foreigner is about Sindi Oberoi,a nowhere man. As June Blyth tells him one evening,fringed with poplar trees: There is something strange about you,you know. Something distant. Id guess that when people are with you,they dont feel like theyre with a human being. Maybe its an Indian characteristic,but I have a feeling youd be a foreigner anywhere. A detailed foreword or introduction to Joshi would have added to the book.

Two Plays

Badal Sircar Translated by Subhendu Sarkar

OUP

Pages: 125

Rs 395

Badal Sircars plays are meant to be performed under the open skies or on the floor of a room,with the audience packed on three sides of the acting arena. The props will be inexpensive; the play will have a purpose. That is just part of what he calls The Third Theatre. Here,two plays written originally in Bangla,Sukhapthiye Bharater Ithihas and Bagalacharitamanas,have been translated into English for the first time as Indian History Made Easy and Life of Bagala respectively. There is also an interview with Sircar,where he speaks of performing at Curzon Park in Kolkata,his unique workshops and how Bagalacharitamanas was actually inspired by an American sitcom,I Dream of Jeannie.