This philosophical film was director’s dream project. After its failure, he was left bankrupt and sold his family properties to recover the loss.
Legendary actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor made several iconic movies in his lifetime, most of them were successful and are called classics today. However, there was one multi-starrer film, that was actor’s dream project, unfortunately failed big-time at the box office. Released in 1970, it was Mera Naam Joker. Directed by Raj Kapoor and produced under his banner R.K. films, the romantic drama featured Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Simi Garewal, Rishi Kapoor, Achala Sachdev, Dharmendra and Dara Singh Randhawa in key roles.
The philosophical film took 6 years to make and was deemed too ahead of its time. It was about a poverty-stricken boy who was forced to take on the job of a joker in the circus, delved deeper into his life challenges beneath his misleading act of laughter.
Raj Kapoor was bankrupt after the failure of Mera Naam Joker
Raj Kapoor put his heart and soul into the film, borrowed huge amounts of money from the financers. Unfortunately, the audience rejected it. One of the reason attributed was five-hour length of the film, necessitating two intervals. The failure of the film destroyed Raj Kapoor as he had invested much of his fortune. Even many financers backed out of Raj Kapoor’s upcoming projects.
Prem Chopra once in an interview revealed that after the failure of Mera Naam Joker, Raj Kapoor mortgaged his own RK studio and even sold his family properties. “Raj Kapoor was finished! Unka sab kuch bik gaya 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.” Chopra said.
After being a box office disaster, the film still bagged 11 awards, including best director, best music, best cinematography and more. In fact, Rishi Kapoor won the National film award for his performance as best child artist.
Raj Kapoor’s comeback as a director
After the failure of Mera Naam Joker, Raj Kapoor wanted to make another romantic film. He cast his son Rishi and newcomer Dimple Kapadia in the film that became Bobby. It became a huge blockbuster, compensating all his massive losses from his previous film.