Mera Naam Joker

Mera Naam Joker (1970)

मेरा नाम जोकर

The Show Must Go On...

Raju faces many hurdles and disappointments in matters of the heart throughout his life. But as a clown in a circus, he tries to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, "The show must go on."

Date of release
1970-12-18
TMDB
7.3 / 10 (83)
Runtime
4h 8m
Genres
Drama, Romance, Music
Director
Raj Kapoor

Casting

Interesting facts

Mera Naam Joker is a 1970 Indian epic romantic drama film, directed, edited and produced by Raj Kapoor under his banner R. K. Films, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. The film stars Raj Kapoor as the eponymous character, with his son Rishi Kapoor making his screen debut playing his younger version, along with Simi Garewal, Kseniya Ryabinkina, Padmini, Manoj Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra and Dara Singh in supporting roles. The plot focuses on a clown who must make his audience laugh at the cost of his sorrows; three women who shaped his life view his final performance.

Production

Mera Naam Joker was under production for six years, with Raj Kapoor investing much of his own personal fortune. All his assets were mortgaged. The film has three chapters. Originally, it was to have six chapters. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas wrote the screenplay with Kapoor in mind, and several instances in the story was based on Kapoor's own life, such as the Christian school teacher episode.

The film also makes references to Raj Kapoor's career throughout. The popular title track of Awaara (1951) is used near the end of the second chapter. In the song "Kehta Hai Joker Saara Zamana", a child looks up reels of Shree 420 (1955) in a bioscope, which featured Nargis, who formed an iconic pair with Raj Kapoor in the 40s and 50s. The poster of Kapoor's previous film Sangam is also seen.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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