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I've read multiple reviews of Awara, and seen that iconic song perhaps a hundred times.

As I started reading this post it was in the spirit of let's-see-if-there's-anything-here-that-I-don't-already-know.

To my surprise (or perhaps horror) almost all the information, connections and insights were new! It is humbling to read Tapen's muses .. but also very enjoyable.

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If you already know about it, any "review" will be useless!

I was in two minds whether to lean on Madam Simkie's story or keep the focus on Awaara. Had I taken the former course, I would have written more about how Zohra Sehgal got jealous of her or how young Ravi Shankar became smitten by Madam Simkie. He professed his love for her during a tour. He was sixteen, she was twentysix. It was doomed right from the start.

There are two remarkable ladies associated with Uday Shankar Choudhary in Paris: Madame Simkie and Alice Boner. His work with Anna Pavlova was unique. They performed together in Mexico City bringing in a Totec motif. It was copied by Hum Kaale Hai To Kya Hua three decades later.

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