As a film maker Raj Kapoor produced 16 films and directed 9 of them under his R.K. banner. Most of his films were successful films and received appreciation from critics and audience. In many of his films Khwaja Ahmad Abbas played a very important role as a story writer, screenplay writer and also dialogue writer. The four films which were written by Mr. K.A. Abbas for R.K. banner were ‘Shree 420’,’Jagte Raho’, ‘Mera Naam Joker’ and ‘Bobby’. The fifth film which was made after Raj Kapoor’s death under R.K. banner was ‘Henna’. But, ‘Mera Naam Joker’ was very special to the showman, as he had put in his heart and soul into the making of this film. It was almost like his dream project. 
This film presented Raj Kapoor as a clown whose job was to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. The plot of this film revolved around three women played by Simi Garewal, Russian actress Kseniya Ryabinkina and his ‘Jis Desh Mein Ganga Beheti Hai’ co star Padmini . It was a multi starrer film also starring Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra , Manoj Kumar , Dara Singh and teenager Rishi Kapoor , who was introduced through this film. ‘Mera Naam Joker’ was a heavily publicized film, as it had taken six long years in its making. The film was partly made with the participation of artistes from Soviet Union and was also partly shot in Moscow. The highlight of this film was its music, composed by Shanker Jaikishan . And therefore, there were big expectations from this film. 
The longest film of that period, this film was made in three chapters with a length of 239 minutes with two intervals. In Soviet Union the film was released in three separate chapters separately. But, in India after its release on 18th December 1970 , the film was rejected by the audience and critics, putting Raj Kapoor into a big financial crisis . However, In the Soviet Union, the film became a blockbuster after it was released there in 1972. The three separate parts of the film collectively sold 73.1 million tickets at the Soviet box office.
Interestingly, this film was later regarded as one of Kapoor’s finest works, with film experts calling it a “misunderstood masterpiece”. The film had won Shanker Jaikishan their filmfare award for best music, besides Raj Kapoor himself winning the best Director’s award. The other filmfare awards were won by Radhu karmakar for best cinematography, Manna Dey for best playback singer for the song ‘ Ae Bhai Jara Dekh ke chalo…’ and Allauddin Khan Qureshi for best sound recording.
On Friday 18th December, this film celebrates 50 Golden years with lots of recollections which takes us down memory lane.