In a chat with Vickey Lalwani, Monty, who is the son of late actor Premnath, recalled the making of Mera Naam Joker. Monty assisted actor Manoj Kumar on many of his films, and recalled that Manoj even offered to edit Mera Naam Joker as he too felt that the film was a little too lengthy. Mera Naam Joker released with two intervals and had a runtime of 4 hours 15 minutes.

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“Manoj Kumar told Raj Kapoor, ‘Let me edit your second and third part’. He found it long,” he recalled and added, “Raj Kapoor wanted to make a fourth chapter with my father (Premnath) and Sharmila Tagore because he got so passionate, he was so involved in it.” Manoj Kumar had a cameo in the film playing the boyfriend of Simi Garewal’s character.

Monty shared that Raj rejected Manoj’s idea. “Raj Kapoor told Manoj Kumar, ‘This is my product. I won’t let you touch my product. Whatever has been made, it is my conviction,” he said. When Manoj reminded him that he had spent a lot of money on the film, Raj told him, “So what? I earned it all because of films, and I have invested it all in my film.”

He recalled that Raj had put everything on the line. “Raj uncle even mortgaged his wife Krishna’s gold bangles for the film,” he said and shared that Raj and Manoj shared many similarities, as Manoj also sold many of his properties so he could finish his film Kranti.

Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker was released in 1970.

In an interview with Zoom Entertainment, veteran actor Prem Chopra reflected on that period and said, “Raj Kapoor was finished! Unka sab kuch bik gaya (He was compelled to sell everything he had). Mera Naam Joker failed miserably at the box office. Raj saab was under a tremendous financial crisis. He not only mortgaged RK Studios but also had to sell off his family properties.”

Previously, Manoj’s son Kunal Goswami also shared a similar anecdote and said, “There was some dialogue between Raj saab and Dad. Dad had told him that you allow me to edit the second half of the film so we can change the shape of the film. But I don’t know whether that happened or didn’t happen. Dad told me that this discussion happened, about editing, not direction.”

In an earlier chat with Mumbai Mirror, Manoj had shared that he developed the story idea for a part of the film but did not want to take any credit for it. He also shared that he paid for his own travel and hotel expenses during the shoot. “The first story in this three-story film was reworked by me, but I didn’t do it for name, fame or money. I paid for my travel expenses and hotel stay and refused to take credit as writer. Mera Naam Joker was my tribute to karmayogi Raj Kapoor. In Urdu ‘awara’ means ‘khushboo’ and even today, the ‘fragrance’ of Raj Kapoor fills our senses.”

Mera Naam Joker caused a lot of financial damage to RK Studios. The 1973 film Bobby, which launched Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in lead roles, brought the studio back to its glory days.