Mera Naam Joker

Raj Kapoor presents an hypothetical autobiography of scathing power that might be his most uncompromising movie and true legacy. Rishi Kapoor plays the young Raj very convincingly and I found the first part to be the most refreshing and touching. The Joker's philosophy is true but does not have may buyers but use this movie as a grand scale memento mori. Check out Raj Kapoor's 'Jagte Raho' for a more devastating social critique. The film is unique for a true Indo-Russian love story and dialogue in Russian. Love and let live.

Mera Naam Joker will always leave a lasting impression on me. The story was loosely based on Raj Kapoor's life & is a tale of divided into 3 chapters (as the joker would say the 1st chapter representing childhood, the 2nd youth & the 3rd ultimately old age). The film tells the story of a man searching for love, giving his heart & soul to entertain the world asking only for the world to have a place in its heart for him. His philosophy prevents him from showing the negative human emotions as the joker lives for the audience applause he can only laugh at the hardships in life, never allowed to shed a tear in sadness.

A scene that sums this up is when Raju (Joker) loses his mother to a heart attack (when she discovers her son has taken up the profession which killed her husband in a stunt that went horribly wrong). But as they say in showbiz the show must go on. Therefore Raju has no time to mourn for the mother who had supported him all his life. Carrying the guilt that he may have directly caused his mothers death he returns to the stage to his adoring public. However the heartache he feels overwhelms him & in a fit of total despair & loss he cries out 'Maa (mother) Maa'. As the circus clears Raju is the only person left standing alone with empty seats surrounding him. Kapoor effectively pulls off the act of shear desolation shielded by a veil of self-ridicule to really give you an impression of the inner torment that Raju eventually succumbs to.

If you are prepared to ignore the flaws in the film such as the over melodramatic parts (which there are plenty of) & prepared to watch the full 4 hours you should find Mera Naam Joker thoroughly consuming & invaluable insight into the life & relationships of an actor few have surpassed in the Indian film industry.

This film though stretched 3 hours and 44 minutes touches the human heart. Loving a girl next door, singing songs, marrying at the end were routine when this film was made.

Raj Kapoor who was famous for his innovative ideas and selection of plots for story aptly chose the untouched Joker as main character of his movie Mera Naam Joker. In different phases of the life he falls in love with different heroines, but always loses his love. This is the novelty in the story.

The dialogues like "kabhi mai bhi solah saal ka tha", Raj crying Maa...Maa.. touches the human heart.

Let the Film bombed at the box-office, but it was released for more than 30 times in Hyderabad(India)especially at Royal Theatre (Hyd, on all the occasions it ran for 40+ days.

I happened to watch this movie on all the releases, but every time the same age-old humane touch touched my heart. Even today, in the mechanical life, If I feel that I am becoming mechanical or going away from the humanitarian feelings, I simply close my bedroom doors, slid the CD in and watch this movie patiently. My heart weeps, my body becomes heavy and in the next morning I fully a human with concern towards my fellow beings.

In my life of 40 years I saw many a movie, but none touched my heart at Mera Naam Joker did.

I salute the thinker, director and brave producer...Late Raj Kapoor for producing the great movie Mera Naam Joker.

One of the greatest films ever made in India.No film has ever evoked my heart to such an extent and it's philosophy is outstanding.THe musical theme is magnificent and the songs remarkable.The story of a clown making the world laugh while secretly brushing that tear from his eye is like re-writing the life of Charlie Chaplin in the Indian form.The symbol of the joker however is over repeated after the first part which partly created a monotony for viewers.

I can never forger the scene when he smiles with a tear in his eyes after removing his glasses telling Russian actress Marina in the Circus that he is not sad.It is an absolutely heart touching film unsurpassed in the annals of Indian film history.

By Harsh Thakor

I will not repeat the same thing which is already covered by others. Mera Naam Joker I would say Raj Kapoor's one of the finest work in his career. A series followed after Awara, Sree 420, and Jagte Raho. Infect in true senses he expressed his real tribute to himself, his career. Whatever he learned he put everything into this. The philosophy says "the show must go on" who knows more than an actor. So whether he is happy or sad or crying he should always look happy and never show traces of his personal anguish. Personally Raj Kapoor was inspired by Charley Chaplin's work and we get the glimpse in his early movies. His philosophy behind this movie is true and very natural. Lets discuss different stages one by one.

Episode I

Adolescent infatuation, his thoughts, his dreams are true and I must say everyone must have faced the same situation with his teacher when in school. His point here only depicts how a young developing mind fantasies. His gesture to present his idol joker to his teacher is a very philosophical thought that only a director like Raj Kapoor can think. He repeats the same with other two women and gets it back all the time.

Episode II

This version depicts the young and passionate love of joker Raju. He tried to show a person in this age group does not think anything other than love, he thinks for romance and fantasies. Here too joker loves, dreams and shows his innocent heart. Raj Kapoor gave his life's best performance as a young joker.

Episode III

I would say this part was the only reason for the movie's failure. People at that time were not used to see mature love story. It was the time when they were used to see Shammi Kapoor's kind of love stories with young and sweet actresses. Padmini's appearance in the last episode makes the movie relatively dull as she was not a very talented actress rather a great dancer. She was never successful in her career in Hindi movies. However Raj Kapoor acted very well in as mature joker. His philosophy extends in this one. As he shows every one is a joker in his life. Life is a stage and everyone needs to perform his part and continue with his journey.

The symbol joker was returned to him thrice as if his heart was given back. His last duologue touches the most when his says his play will not stop here this is just an interval , which may be for 15 min,15 hours or 15 months so please don't go away . He said whatever he wanted to convey from this movie . He tried to prove that from this movie joker's next phase starts and surely after that he never acted in his movies as a hero. He chose his next episode where joker was directing other jokers for his show. Certainly it is his autobiographical work. At last I must say no one can replace a director like Raj Kapoor.