joker or showman

I want to watch Mera Naam Joker. Once again.

Few days back, I read one article about Bollywood and Hindi Cinema. It talked about importanceand effects of theme and idea in firangi films. These are the factors which are missing in Hindi Cinema. Here director are servent to audience and lack creativity and courage. Basically it tried to prove the point that Hindi Cinema audience is still not prepared for a movie based on idea or theme. We still need 10 songs and minimum one love story (plus one dance number in today's case) to make a film successful. Drama and emotions still rule the public's heart. We still are not budhdhijivi. Our new generations might not know who our president is, but they surely know who is Aish's latest boyfriend. It's our bad luck, but we have to accept the hard truth. We still are not prepared for serious stuff. We still live in dream world and can't face the reality.

So director, and actually in a correct sense - the producer, would not want to go against the mass and do something exceptional. They serve like a slave to the mass. Businesses are always run on proven formulas. It takes a generation to give birth to visionary like JRD Tata. So here are most of the directors, catering specifically to the aundienc's taste. Cinema as a medium holds very less significance. People who wanted to do things their own way and wanted to explore new territorries, were termed as Art Film makers. They were always looked down as some failure rather than brave soldiers in the crowd of slaves.

One guy (or actually one of the very few) who could escape this classification was Raj Kapoor. Brilliantly termed as Showman of the Millenium (Subhash Ghai was not honored with this honor, he actually is self-proclaimed showman), Raj Kapoor tried to show vivid aspect of life through his cinema. He gave cinema its true meaning.

Today's generation knows him for his overly exposed heroins. There is no doubt that sex and nudity were an inevitable part of his cinema. Some claimed this as his weakness, while others said it was his courage. Only he could think of showing and portraying what he did. Most of the times it was appropriate for the screenplay, so somehow he could escape being termed as a porn filmmaker.

But there is one more thing, which makes him stand out among this crowd of show-them-what-they-want type of directors (and producers). He tried to touch each and every aspect of life, and didn't fear in showing the bitter truths. He experimented with cinema as medium. Jagate Raho, with story based on events in just one night is one brilliant attempt. The housing society shown in this movie is exactly what we see today.

Mera Naam Joker was another of his brilliant attempt. A 3 hour 40 mins epic story of a joker's life, protrayed with all the emotions and drama. Even the canvas was grand with Gemini Circus being used for the movie. Sadly this movie could not cater to audience. There was no Budhdhijivi Junta that time, that could understand the movie. Junta, then, could not digest the story of a student in love with his teacher. A joker, who pretends not to cry and continues to perform in the circus, was not someone could appreciate that time.
"The show must go on" does not apply even in today's world, that was a wrong time altogether. But Raj Kapoor lived that dream. He spent his whole life in proving the same. May be some day, mass would actually agree that even a joker can have a love story.

Surely, today times are changing, very slowly though. But there is some hope, a hope that we will see more such work. Hope par to duniya jiti hai.

Raj Kapoor aaj bhi yahi geet gungunate honge.
"Yeh Mera Geet Jeevan Sangeet
Kal Bhi Koi Dohrayega
Jag Ko Hasane Bahrupiya
Roop Badal Phir Aayega"

I will try and watch some of his movies again and try to write about them. I will surely write about him some more time.