When people said 'Raj Kapoor satthiya gaya hai' after Mera Naam Joker 'debacle', distributors abandoned him

Raj Kapoor's passion project Mera Naam Joker failed at the box office. The debacle led to the filmmaker being written-off by the industry.

Raj Kapoor has delivered some of the most iconic films in the history of Hindi cinema. These include Shree 420, Awaara, Sangam, Bobby and Satyam Shivam Sundaram, to name a few. One of his biggest passion projects was Mera Naam Joker. However, no one had anticipated that the big-budget project would fail at the box office.

Raj Kapoor and Dharmendra in a still from Mera Naam Joker.

His daughter Rima Jain had once opened up about the impact Mera Naam Joker's failure had on Raj Kapoor's career. She revealed that distributors and financiers abandoned Raj following the film's failure and people said that he had 'gone crazy'.

In a 2018 Filmfare interview, Rima recalled, "Papa was bad with money. He’d say, 'Either I create or become an accountant.' That’s why he never imagined that his extravaganza Mera Naam Joker (1970) would be such a debacle. It was his heart and soul. A lot was mortgaged, including his respect. He was devastated. After Joker, people dropped him. Distributors and financiers abandoned him. People said, 'Raj Kapoor satthiya (crazy) gaya hai. He’s finished.'"

However, the market perception did not deter Raj Kapoor from making a comeback. He returned as the director of Bobby, starring his son Rishi Kapoor. The film also marked Dimple Kapadia's film debut. "Papa had strong conviction. Much like his character in Sangam who tells his friend, 'Main wapas aaonga!' he was sure he’d come back. He returned with a sixer of a film - Bobby (1973), inspired by Archie comics, almost to prove, 'Is this what you want? Take it!'" Rima added.

Raj Kapoor died in June 1988. On his 33rd death anniversary on June 2, 2021, his daughter-in-law Neetu Kapoor shared a post on Instagram and remembered him. In the vintage video, Raj passionately spoke about filmmaking. She shared the clip with the caption, "Miss you."