A morbid reality

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This message brings us face to face with a morbid reality. At the back of our minds we know it, but find it difficult to come to terms. In this mood, it reminds me of the "Mera naam Joker" song,  "Kehta hai joker sara zamana", with specifically the lines: 

अपने पे हँस के जग को हँसाया 

बन के तमाशा मेले में आया 

धक्के पे धक्का, रेले पे रेला 

है भीड़ इतनी पर दिल अकेला 

ग़म जब सताये, सीटी बजाना... 

This is an apt response to the poignant mood. There is no time to brood, but accept the reality shown so well in the words of the song and deal with it positively...literally whistling your way away. The 'joker' has proverbially harboured many a sorrow, but conceals it under a facade of mirth. 

We have so many instances in history, the classic being Charlie Chaplin. In many ways Raj Kapoor emulated his style and in "Mera naam Joker" it found complete expression. As Raju in the movie, he 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. 

The movie itself was a classic and far advanced for its age and predictably it failed as our our audience were not ready for it. Raj Kapoor was distraught and suffered huge losses. After all his magnum opus was not accepted. For three years he did not make any movies (a long time for his standard) before he pandered to public taste with the release of 'Bobby' and its famous 'bold' scenes. He carried on with this formula in 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' and 'Ram Teri Ganga maili'. In my opinion it was a sad turn to movie making, when if 'Mera Naam Joker' was accepted, we would have seen high quality good films... but probably not as entertaining!




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