Legendary actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor has made several blockbuster hits in his career and fans love the classic hits. But, there was one multi-starrer film that was an actor’s dream project, which failed miserably at the box office. The film was released in 1970. Can you guess which film it is?
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 important roles.
This film took 6 years to make and was ahead of its time. The movie was about a poverty-stricken boy who was forced to take on the job of a joker in the circus. He faced a lot of challenges in his life. Raj Kapoor worked hard for the film and also reportedly borrowed huge amounts of money from the financers. But, the film did not do well at the box office. The main reason for the film’s failure was the five-hour length of the film with two intervals. He failure of the film destroyed Raj Kapoor as he invested a lot of money and later even many financers backed out of his upcoming projkects. Prem Chopra in an interview said that after the failure of Mera Naam Joker, Raj Kapoor mortgaged his own RK studio and even sold his family properties. He said, ‘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’.
The film managed to grab 11 awards, including best director, best music, best cinematography and more. Rishi Kapoor won the National Film Award for his performance as best child artist. Raj Kapoor wanted to make another romantic film and had cast his son Rishi and newcomer Dimple Kapadia in Bobby. The film became a huge blockbuster and he recovered all the money.
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