Legendary actor cum filmmaker Raj Kapoor made several movies in his lifetime, most of which were successful and are deemed classics today. However, one film that stands out is the multi-starrer Mera Naam Joker. This deeply philosophical film that narrated the tale of a poverty-stricken boy forced to take on the mantle of a Joker in a circus, had its heart in the right place and spoke about how sorrow dwells deep beneath a misleading act of laughter.
However, Raj Kapoor faced a huge disappointment with Mera Naam Joker. The philosophical film, which was Raj Kapoor’s dream project and took 6 years to make, was deemed too ahead of its time and failed miserably at the box office. Years later, in an interview, Raj Kapoor’s son Randheer Kapoor stated that in that era, people associated jokers with mere tools of laughter and were disappointed that the film was not a comedy and failed to grasp the deeper aspects.
Raj Kapoor put everything into the film and borrowed huge amounts of money from financers, roped in big names like Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Padmini, Dharmendra and Simi Garewal and even cast his son Rishi Kapoor as a younger version of his character. The audience downright rejected the film. Part of it is also attributed to the five-hour length of the film, necessitating two intervals.
The failure of the film financially wrecked Raj Kapoor as he had even invested much of his fortune, mortgaging his assets. Financers even backed out of Raj Kapoor’s upcoming projects.
Raj Kapoor’s saviour came in the form of his son Rishi Kapoor. After the failure of Mera Naam Joker, Raj Kapoor wanted to make a romantic film which was not too deep. He wanted to rope in Rajesh Khanna but could not afford his remuneration. Thus he cast his son Rishi and newcomer Dimple Kapadia in the film that became Bobby. Raj Kapoor redeemed himself with Bobby as it became a huge blockbuster, compensating for all his previous losses from Mera Naam Joker.
Mera Naam Joker has been positively reviewed by contemporary critics who now deem it a ‘misunderstood classic’ and list it among one of Raj Kapoor’s finest films. It is interesting to note that despite being a failure in India, Mera Naam Joker did reasonably good business in the Soviet Union, partly because many Soviet actors had been cast in the film and part of it was shot in Moscow.
Read all the Latest Bollywood News and Regional Cinema News here
Comments
0 comment