The movie is long and has the potential to bore you. It doesn't have a single concrete storyline , rather shows the romantic adventure of Raju. Raju, the protagony encounters different women in his life. His relationships with all these women forms the story of film. The movie though long is technically a masterpiece. Raj Kapoor really contributed a master crafty work to Bollywood, from statement delivery, set designs, performance with casts choosen, costume designs, BGM and the narratives all reflects the visual maestro's. A massive respect for that.
The film gives a lot of message, the message of being good among bad, being selfless among selfishness, being humane among inhumanity. The characters are real though pessimistic. The performances are appealing and narrations, slow paced. This holds the viewers attention throughout. The film is highly symbolic too. Raju works as a clown in a circus and entertains people. He represents Humanity's best. He makes others laugh which is one of the best job one could do in the line of retaining humanity. But the 20th century was a turbulent period where humanity was crushed in various ways. Raju too was a victim of such attacks, a victim of ever changing world of consumerism. He is the best person in the world to be exact ; an artist , an ideal lover a compassionate person but was looked down upon , rebuked and rejected by the world. He is not materialistic unlike the world but is humane in all aspects. He explores and understands that all people in the world are hardline materialistic , selfish , incompassionate. His ideals were deemed meaningless and he was left heart broken. Still he retains his humanity as the clown, by returning to his father's footsteps, which will leave you speechless and sympathise with the character. The film clearly distinguish between good traits and bad which is shockingly convincing, what really is good and bad behind the scenario, the ugliness hiding behind the innocent faces. The ending seem to me that humanity will always be the same , unchanging despite the inhumanity's reign .
The film is heavily influenced by the Capitalist thought, mostly its emotions. How capitalist ideals have removed humanity from human beings. This is partially influenced by Soviets thought too. Though the film doesn't directly implies this, but has strong suggestive references through statements and character built ups. The exploited status of Raju could be interpreted as the common guy victimised in both socialist and Capitalist world. These was actually the scenario in 20th century, which is left for audiences to interpret.
Raj Kapoor very masterfully has shown this aspect through various tales of love and romance. He immortalized himself through this masterpiece. Though this film flopped at the box office but qualitatively speaking it's a film ahead of it's time. The inhumane situation of entire humanity seems to get reduced to a single person in the film, which actually worked like a metaphor.
Summing it's a masterpiece of grief, a milestone of heartbreak and a tale of tears hiding under the attempt to smile. Such poetic film are not so available in the world. This deserves an international recognition and that too for right genre. A 99/100. Recommended for pessimism !
The film gives a lot of message, the message of being good among bad, being selfless among selfishness, being humane among inhumanity. The characters are real though pessimistic. The performances are appealing and narrations, slow paced. This holds the viewers attention throughout. The film is highly symbolic too. Raju works as a clown in a circus and entertains people. He represents Humanity's best. He makes others laugh which is one of the best job one could do in the line of retaining humanity. But the 20th century was a turbulent period where humanity was crushed in various ways. Raju too was a victim of such attacks, a victim of ever changing world of consumerism. He is the best person in the world to be exact ; an artist , an ideal lover a compassionate person but was looked down upon , rebuked and rejected by the world. He is not materialistic unlike the world but is humane in all aspects. He explores and understands that all people in the world are hardline materialistic , selfish , incompassionate. His ideals were deemed meaningless and he was left heart broken. Still he retains his humanity as the clown, by returning to his father's footsteps, which will leave you speechless and sympathise with the character. The film clearly distinguish between good traits and bad which is shockingly convincing, what really is good and bad behind the scenario, the ugliness hiding behind the innocent faces. The ending seem to me that humanity will always be the same , unchanging despite the inhumanity's reign .
The film is heavily influenced by the Capitalist thought, mostly its emotions. How capitalist ideals have removed humanity from human beings. This is partially influenced by Soviets thought too. Though the film doesn't directly implies this, but has strong suggestive references through statements and character built ups. The exploited status of Raju could be interpreted as the common guy victimised in both socialist and Capitalist world. These was actually the scenario in 20th century, which is left for audiences to interpret.
Raj Kapoor very masterfully has shown this aspect through various tales of love and romance. He immortalized himself through this masterpiece. Though this film flopped at the box office but qualitatively speaking it's a film ahead of it's time. The inhumane situation of entire humanity seems to get reduced to a single person in the film, which actually worked like a metaphor.
Summing it's a masterpiece of grief, a milestone of heartbreak and a tale of tears hiding under the attempt to smile. Such poetic film are not so available in the world. This deserves an international recognition and that too for right genre. A 99/100. Recommended for pessimism !