Raj Kapoor on Filmfare, posthumously (June 16-30, 1988)
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21 Responses to “Raj Kapoor on Filmfare, posthumously (June 16-30, 1988)”
Raj Kapoor was admired, respected and adored when he was alive.
Agree, MNJ was a masterpiece. I hold it in extremely high esteem and place it on par with the Guru Dutt classics like Pyaasa and KKP, which I absolutely adore. There is a certain passion and an air of genuineness that comes thru in these films like no others.
Money Spinner posthumously that’s the point. it wasn’t liked much on first release and labeled as a flop and boring as i heard.
RK has been loved more internationally like Nehru. not implying that they weren’t loved in their own country though.
But somehow it has been Indian/human tendency to love & respect more to the legends like Guru Dutt,RK ,Kishore Kumar or Meena kumari posthumously. ppl value more after they lose them/it. when alive they pretty much taken for granted by and large. i believe same will continue to happen with many (eg. AB )as tendency of mass is hard to change.
Again can’t agree with anything you’ve said. Nehru was an Indian giant. The idea that he was more loved internationally is a little stunning. Guru Dutt is still a minority taste even if his greatest films now have enormous prestige. Raj Kapoor has been universal in India forever. He was one of the biggest stars of his time and his films were among the biggest commercial successes in their day. MNJ was a rare high profile failure for him. Some films are just ahead of their time. Kishore Kumar was worshipped when he was alive as well! Meena Kumari was a big star when she was alive. Sometimes death builds up or adds to a legend. But I am pretty amazed by your claims here.
I only recently saw MNJ and while I can’t say that I loved the film there was a sense of almost novelistic richness in the span of time the film embraces and the care with which each phase of the life explored is given a kind of epic dramatic heft. I think the comparison of this and Dutt is especially clear in the level of self-pity that MNJ contains, which Pyaasa and KKP certainly carried. I don’t mean this pejoratively, though, as I thought the autobiographical nature of these works was consistently intriguing and there was a level of the “personal” that really informed and colored my experience of each film.
Actually I found Right ya wrong a rather guilty pleasure. I must say this title was supremely appropriate in a film where the leads were Irrfan and Sunny. The film has a rather absurd plot (only Hitchcock could make this sort of thing totally credible) but it’s very entertaining. Sunny gets my vote for worst hair ever.
There’s also something interesting about when the film released – 1970. Almost poetic to the extent that the 70s really marked, in my experience, the most clear and important “break” with the earlier 50s period that Kapoor really came to define in some ways.
‘MNJ has been RK’s most successful money spinner in reruns.’
‘Interestingly Raj Kapoor himself after somewhat devastating failure of MNJ went heavily masala for Bobby.’
Its OK you disagree to whatever i post BUT
Are these two statements of yours aren’t contradicting each other Satyam!?
No: Mera Naam Joker flopped UPON RELEASE, but did very well in RE-RUNS, in the years to come. [I have heard that the same thing happened with Guru Dutt's Pyaasa and Kaaghaz ke Phool]…
what’s contradictory about them MonaLisa?! The film was a flop when it released and it disappointed Raj Kapoor greatly. But on reruns it was more successful than any other RK Studios release. What’s so hard to understand here?!
Incidentally I don’t disagree with everything you post though I might have disagreed with the last 3-4 comments you had.
March 31, 2010 at 12:11 AM
http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/raj-kapoor-on-filmfare-dec-4-1970/
March 31, 2010 at 12:57 AM
As usual he was admired more posthumously ! what an irony!?
‘Mera naam Joker’ is a classic indeed !
March 31, 2010 at 4:26 PM
Raj Kapoor got more than hjis fair share of acclaim during his lifetime. It was Guru Dutt who deserved more.
March 31, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Raj Kapoor was admired, respected and adored when he was alive.
Agree, MNJ was a masterpiece. I hold it in extremely high esteem and place it on par with the Guru Dutt classics like Pyaasa and KKP, which I absolutely adore. There is a certain passion and an air of genuineness that comes thru in these films like no others.
March 31, 2010 at 12:25 PM
MNJ has been RK’s most successful moneyspinner in reruns.
March 31, 2010 at 1:25 PM
Money Spinner posthumously that’s the point. it wasn’t liked much on first release and labeled as a flop and boring as i heard.
RK has been loved more internationally like Nehru. not implying that they weren’t loved in their own country though.
But somehow it has been Indian/human tendency to love & respect more to the legends like Guru Dutt,RK ,Kishore Kumar or Meena kumari posthumously. ppl value more after they lose them/it. when alive they pretty much taken for granted by and large. i believe same will continue to happen with many (eg. AB )as tendency of mass is hard to change.
March 31, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Again can’t agree with anything you’ve said. Nehru was an Indian giant. The idea that he was more loved internationally is a little stunning. Guru Dutt is still a minority taste even if his greatest films now have enormous prestige. Raj Kapoor has been universal in India forever. He was one of the biggest stars of his time and his films were among the biggest commercial successes in their day. MNJ was a rare high profile failure for him. Some films are just ahead of their time. Kishore Kumar was worshipped when he was alive as well! Meena Kumari was a big star when she was alive. Sometimes death builds up or adds to a legend. But I am pretty amazed by your claims here.
March 31, 2010 at 2:25 PM
I only recently saw MNJ and while I can’t say that I loved the film there was a sense of almost novelistic richness in the span of time the film embraces and the care with which each phase of the life explored is given a kind of epic dramatic heft. I think the comparison of this and Dutt is especially clear in the level of self-pity that MNJ contains, which Pyaasa and KKP certainly carried. I don’t mean this pejoratively, though, as I thought the autobiographical nature of these works was consistently intriguing and there was a level of the “personal” that really informed and colored my experience of each film.
April 2, 2010 at 11:07 AM
your comment inspired me to revisit the film.. will do so tonight or tomorrow.
April 2, 2010 at 11:16 AM
I don’t think it will live up to the bar “Right Yaa Wrong” has set, but do share your impressions.
April 2, 2010 at 11:21 AM
Actually I found Right ya wrong a rather guilty pleasure. I must say this title was supremely appropriate in a film where the leads were Irrfan and Sunny. The film has a rather absurd plot (only Hitchcock could make this sort of thing totally credible) but it’s very entertaining. Sunny gets my vote for worst hair ever.
April 2, 2010 at 11:26 AM
LOL…just pulling your leg, yeah, I heard it was kind of fun. I usually watch Irfan’s bearable stuff in any case. I’ll take a look.
March 31, 2010 at 3:20 PM
You nailed it, GF.
March 31, 2010 at 4:23 PM
I second that..
March 31, 2010 at 4:19 PM
There’s also something interesting about when the film released – 1970. Almost poetic to the extent that the 70s really marked, in my experience, the most clear and important “break” with the earlier 50s period that Kapoor really came to define in some ways.
March 31, 2010 at 4:23 PM
that’s a very astute point GF.. interestingly Raj Kapoor himself after the somewhat devastating failure of MNJ went heavily masala for Bobby.
March 31, 2010 at 4:25 PM
also if Manmohan Desai is considered to be the most symptomatic director of this decade his links with Raj Kapoor become that much more interesting.
April 1, 2010 at 9:28 PM
‘MNJ has been RK’s most successful money spinner in reruns.’
‘Interestingly Raj Kapoor himself after somewhat devastating failure of MNJ went heavily masala for Bobby.’
Its OK you disagree to whatever i post BUT
Are these two statements of yours aren’t contradicting each other Satyam!?
April 1, 2010 at 10:07 PM
No: Mera Naam Joker flopped UPON RELEASE, but did very well in RE-RUNS, in the years to come. [I have heard that the same thing happened with Guru Dutt's Pyaasa and Kaaghaz ke Phool]…
April 2, 2010 at 12:18 AM
Exactly my point Q! thank you !
That’s why i questioned Satyam about his contradictory quotes in above post.
April 2, 2010 at 11:35 AM
what’s contradictory about them MonaLisa?! The film was a flop when it released and it disappointed Raj Kapoor greatly. But on reruns it was more successful than any other RK Studios release. What’s so hard to understand here?!
Incidentally I don’t disagree with everything you post though I might have disagreed with the last 3-4 comments you had.