Raza Murad says distributors who once begged for Raj Kapoor’s films refused to buy Bobby without seeing it after Mera Naam Joker flop: ‘He was in tremendous debt’

Raj Kapoor’s magnum opus Mera Naam Joker may have become a cult classic over time, but at the time of its release, the four-hour-long epic left the legendary actor-filmmaker in financial ruin. The film took six years to make and failed at the box office, putting Kapoor in a position where he was forced to rebuild the trust of an industry that had once revered him.