Is Awara a Musical?

As I was watching this film, I thought back to all the musicals I have ever seen. Some that I truly loved, Sweeney Todd, Singin' in the Rain, and Rocky Horror Picture Show, I tried comparing Awara to and it didn't really fit. Throughout the whole film I thought about this topic. I had convinced myself that it was infact a musical. The more I thought about it, I have to disagree with myself.

Even though there are random songs throughout the film that keep the plot going, there are many examples of the songs being completely diegetic. The first example was the first song. At this point I was already convinced that it was a musical. When the camera scrolls over to the couple and she asks why they are singing that specific song, I was surprised that they had the music diegetic.

When I look back on the other musicals I love, the music is never seen as diegetic. They acknowledge that it happens, but it's just more like conversations to them. When you look back on much of American musicals, the people that are having a conversation with the singer end up singing as well, like it's completely normal.

In Awara, there are more than one example of diegetic singing. When Raj grows up to teenish years and he sees Rita singing and dancing in the main room, the fellows around can hear her singing and acknowledge it. The characters here the music as well. It isn't just conversation to them. It's entertainment to the fellows in the room.

I said before that I disagreed with myself at the end of this film. I was so convinced that it was a musical because there was music in the film. When I took a second to think about the article that we read and the context in which they were singing, I came to the conclusion that this film, Awara, is not a musical, but a Hindi film from the 50's with music.