Actor-filmmaker Raj Kapoor was often compared to Orson Welles. After being hailed as a maestro early in his career, he struggled to live up to that massive success with every subsequent project. He established RK Studios, and his cinema came to define post-Independence India. But his passion project, the four-hour-long Mera Naam Joker, flopped after being in production for six years and Raj was on the verge of losing it all. He took a financial hit because of the film’s performance, which also led to the industry losing faith in him as he mounted his next film, Bobby. In an interview, his frequent collaborator, actor Raza Murad, recalled working with ‘The Showman’, and said that distributors who would once fall over themselves to secure the rights to his movies refused to buy them sight unseen.
In an interview with Filmy Charcha, Raza Murad recalled what Raj Kapoor was like as a person and an artiste, and said that he could play any musical instrument under the sun without practice. He was also a devotee of Lord Shiva, and frequently alluded to this by referencing the Ganga in his films. He would also abstain from drinking alcohol after he finished shooting his films, and wouldn’t start drinking again until his film received its censor certificate. “He loved his drinks and meat, but he would quit before getting a censor certificate,” Raza Murad recalled.
Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker’s original runtime was over 4 hours.
He continued, “He would sacrifice everything for his films, including time with his family, and his children. He would become absolutely consumed by films. He had the mind of a 14-year-old. He would fall ill a week before his film’s release, because he would be so tensed about its reception. He was aware that his reputation was at stake. It wasn’t about the money. He would put everything on the line. After Mera Naam Joker, he was in tremendous debt. Things got so bad that distributors refused to buy Bobby without seeing it first. These were the same people who were once desperate to secure the rights to his movies. But after Mera Naam Joker, everything changed. He refused to show them the movie, but he agreed to show them the songs.”
In an interview with Zoom Entertainment last year, the veteran actor Prem Chopra reflected on the difficulties that Raj Kapoor faced after Mera Naam Joker bombed. “Raj Kapoor was finished! Unka sab kuch bik gaya (He was compelled to sell everything he had). Mera Naam Joker failed miserably at the box office. Raj saab was under a tremendous financial crisis. He not only mortgaged RK Studios but also had to sell off his family properties, but he didn’t give up on his love for filmmaking,” he said.
Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan (1970) from Movie Mera Naam Joker
In a 2018 press interaction, Raj Kapoor’s son, the late Rishi Kapoor, spoke about the problems that they faced after Mera Naam Joker. “When Mera Naam Joker was about to release, our studio and all our assets were mortgaged to release that film, and the picture bombed. We were in severe problems. Then he made a film called Bobby with new boy and new girl, which was a huge risk after seeing the failure of Mera Naam Joker. But it became super hit and that is when his friends and my uncles insisted that he should to buy a house,” he said, making a reference to the film that launched him and Dimple Kapadia.
