Mera Naam Joker
- 1970
- 3h 44m
Raju is a joker, a clown. It is what he is and what he always shall be. As his life story unfolds in three chapters, from his school days to the circus to the streets, he must always make pe... Read allRaju is a joker, a clown. It is what he is and what he always shall be. As his life story unfolds in three chapters, from his school days to the circus to the streets, he must always make people laugh and be happy, no matter how unhappy he is within. Along the way, Raju loves and... Read allRaju is a joker, a clown. It is what he is and what he always shall be. As his life story unfolds in three chapters, from his school days to the circus to the streets, he must always make people laugh and be happy, no matter how unhappy he is within. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manag... Read all
- Awards
- 11 wins
- Raju's Mother
- (as Achla Sachdev)
- Mahender Kumar
- (as Dharmender)
- Sher Singh
- (as Dara Singh)
- Member of the Soviet State Circus
- (as Edward Sereda)
- Marina
- (as Miss Ksiena Rabiankina of the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow)
- Mahender Kumar
- (as Rajender Kumar)
- Circus Surgeon
- (as Rajendra Nath)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRaj Kapoor put in his own money in the film also mortgaged his house, The film took 6 years to complete and was a big loss.
- Quotes
Raj 'Raju' Ranbir: In this world, the only things more dangerous and scary than a tiger are poverty and hunger.
- Crazy creditsat the end of the cast list.........: ".......with a cast of thousands"
- ConnectionsReferenced in Swarg (1990)
- SoundtracksJeena Yahaan Marna Yahaan Iske Siva Jaana Kahaan
Lyrics by Shailendra
Music by Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal (as Shankar-Jaikishan)
Sung by Mukesh
Positively not a Negative Film. One Of The Most Difficult Film to Review. After watching almost 2000+ films and almost 400+ Classics from Bollywood and Hollywood Cinema finally i see the first ever challenge in Film Reviews where i am not able to Review the film freely. I can call it a 'Misunderstood Masterpiece' which it deserves but on the other side i can also call it a 'Lose Vision Film' with no hesitation. Legend Raj Kapoor directed total 10 films in his Remarkable career and 'Mera Naam Joker' was his Only Commercial Failure. His dream project became his only debacle because he tried to show something which was very heavy and difficult to understand for the audience of early 70s and it lacked the concrete vision. I myself will try to find out what really it is, did I really understand it or not. MNJ is a story of Raju who has a desire to become a clawn and make people laugh. This main theme of the film is at centre but the screenplay is split into three chapters of his life and unfortunately all three stories ride on three different directions leaving the main theme alone in the centre. First chapter is about Raju's teenage crush on his teacher and where he learns what a Joker actually means ending up with his decision about working as a Joker for lifetime. The 2nd chapter is about his circus life where he finally gets the chance to fulfill his desire of being a Joker. But again fate disappoints him as he Loses his Mother and lover and he decides to quit circus with the promise that he'll be back one day to give his Last shot. Third chapter is about his Manhood where he finds another love and another job which is again meant to leave him alone. Now these 3 periods of his life never ever say that, yes he's a Joker forever and he should live with this fact or he doesn't even remain a Joker consistently. He continues finding something else rather than finding his own and the only desire. The overlong story is fastly forwarded to save the time towards the end and leaves so many loopholes such as what did he actually do in those unknown 20 years of his life? Was he working somewhere or was he doing again the same thing? Did he marry someone or not and why? Why didn't he decided to be a Joker for once forever or quit forever? His all 3 Love partners couldn't fullfill his love life for particular reasons then where was he when he actually realised the sad fact of his life. Despite overlong runtime of 239 Minute film couldn't answer so many questions then what was the use of such a long narrative? Now coming to the philosophical side which i find very emotional and profound. I am assuming that the philosophy was about Raju himself living the fictional sorrowful life of Joker in real life. Yes, he didn't get happiness and so he is the Clawn and he has realised finally and that's why he throws out all his emotions and feelings in the climax scene saying, '"The Show hasn't ended, more fiasco to be continued". And then the credits at the end says, "Positively Not The End". This is something deep and so thoughtful. This literally stabbed knife into my heart. MNJ is a mixture of these 2 opposite theories and both works on high level. It is just a matter of perspective, if you're fan of emotions and philosophy then the Positive one will work for you and if you're fan of intelligent sentiments rather than unnecessarily stretched feeling then the Negative pole is for you. I am fully confused to give a rating and give final verdict to the film and I don't think i am gonna find the answer in future. I am not at all humiliated because it took a Genius like Raj Kapoor to confuse me. The legend was thinking much ahead of the time, even ahead of Hollywood while making MNJ. Let me talk a little about regular review stuff. Raj Kapoor as an Lead Actor did a fantastic job, supporting cast is good. Music is Superb no doubt one of the finest album of the decade. Production was Huge but unfortunately saw huge loss (RK covered it with Blockbuster 'Bobby' though). Direction wise, like i said Raj Kapoor lacked the Concrete vision to tell the story. He could have easily made it as One Correct Emotional Saga rather than unfolding chapters in overlong runtime. Suppose, If Raju lived his full life as a Joker making people laugh hiding his personal sadness (of course he will experience pain but in simple manners) behind the mask rather than those not so useful Love interests then i guess Mera Naam Joker would have been a Popular and Easily Understandable Classic. It was Huge Flop when released and we all know 'Public is Never Wrong' but later it gained a Cult Classic status by the same public. See, again confusion. On personal thoughts i still say it is either 9/10*, 10/10* film for the deep philosophy of endless pain OR it is 6/10* film because of those diversions in the screenplay and you MUST WATCH this just to find out on which side you are. If you find out adn understand this film then please get back to me. Those who gave High Rating have probably found out those profound facts and those who gave Negative rating had probably gone blaming those diversional and lost storytelling factors. Don't even bother asking, i strongly recommend this film because such kind of content in Commercial Film is never seen, even though my personal rating is not high but one thing is sure that I just can't get this film out of my mind, that's forever i mean.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest
- SAMTHEBESTEST
- Jun 14, 2020
- How long is Mera Naam Joker?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime3 hours 44 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.44 : 1