[6][7] In particular, the song "Awaara Hoon" ("I am a Vagabond"), sung by Mukesh with lyrics by Shailendra, became hugely popular across the Indian subcontinent, as well as in countries such as the Soviet Union,[8][9] China,[1][4] Bulgaria,[7] Turkey, Afghanistan, and Romania.

However, people suspect Leela of adultery and Raghunath throws her out of their house, rejecting her pleas that the child is his.

He pretends to pursue the thief in order to ward off any suspicion and returns the purse to the woman, who is charmed by his personality and apparent selflessness.

Rita, now studying law, is a ward of Raghunath, who is suspicious when he hears that Raj doesn't know who his father is.

Worrying that Rita will not accept him due to his thievery, Raj starts working at a factory but is fired when the manager finds out that he was a thief.

When Leela goes to the courthouse to provide her eyewitness account, she sees Raghunath and chases after him but is struck by a car.

He asks the court not to think of him, but the millions of other children who grow up in poverty and end up turning to crime because high society does not care about them.

The music for this film was composed by Shankar Jaikishan while the songs were written by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.

The song "Awaara Hoon" was used in the Malayalam film Vishnulokam directed by Kamal and starring Mohanlal.

[14] The film is a collaboration of the famous team of director/producer Raj Kapoor and writer Khwaja Ahmad Abbas.

In the event, Abbas withdrew his script from Mehboob Studios and Raj Kapoor decided to direct it.

In his column for the Indian Express, Kapoor wrote, "In Awara I tried to prove that Vagabonds are not born, but are created in the slums of our modern cities, in the midst of dire poverty and evil environment.

Nargis's wild and carefree sensuality pulsates and Raj Kapoor's scruffy hair-rebellious persona only adds fuel to the fire".

[38] This record was later beaten the next year by Mehboob Khan's Aan (1952), starring Dilip Kumar, which grossed ₹2.5 crore in 1952.

[18][29] In the Soviet Union, Awaara was released in 1954,[40] debuting at Indian film festivals in Moscow and Leningrad which drew about 1.5 million viewers in four days.

[41] By the end of the year, it drew an audience of about 64 million viewers in its initial run, the highest for any film in the Soviet Union at the time, until its record was surpassed by Amphibian Man in 1962.

[45] Including re-runs, which were running for 10–12 years, Awaara's footfalls in the Soviet Union amounted to about 100 million box office admissions, which remains among the highest for an Indian film in an overseas market.

[35] Prior to its 1978 re-release, the film's initial run had sold a total of 40 million tickets in China.

[34] The song "Awaara Hoon" and actor Raj Kapoor were widely known across China and the Soviet Union.

"[49] Due to the film's remarkable success with Turkish audiences, Awaara was remade in Turkey a total of eight times.