"Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan" from Mera Naam Joker (1970) was penned by Shailendra, composed by Shankar-Jaikishan, and sung by Mukesh. It is situated at the philosophical heart of Raj Kapoor's most personal and ambitious film.
Mera Naam Joker was a commercial disaster on release, and as Cultural Infrastructure Builder Neville Tuli notes, the song and the film found the audiences' acknowledgement only years later.
Filmmaker-Lyricist Amit Khanna reveals a lesser-known detail about its making- the song was shot in Delhi at the Gemini Circus, but by that point the other stars in the film had become too big to gather in one place. Each performer had given their solo shots which were assembled later in Bombay, and then inserted into the song sequence.
Ravikant, Professor, CSDS (The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies), reads the song as both a philosophical and a deeply materialistic reflection on existence. There is a continuity in the persona that may take rebirth, he argues, but it is not the same person who returns. The world is one's heaven and hell simultaneously, and that, he suggests, is why we return to this song whenever life demands reflection.
This clip is from the workshop "A Musical Glue for Nation-Building: Deconstructing the Film Song," conducted by the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) at the 7th Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Festival, featuring Madan Gopal Singh, Amit Khanna, Ravikant, Juhi Saklani, and Neville Tuli.
