Kseniya Ryabinkina in Mera Naam Joker

Kseniya Ryabinkina in Mera Naam Joker

Kseniya Ryabinkina, a Russian actress who played a significant role in Raj Kapoor’s 1970 film Mera Naam Joker is back with another Bollywood film named Chintuji. It’s almost 40 years after which the actress is making another Hindi film. With a delicate heath due to age, the actress has quietly shot for film on the outskirts of Himachal Pradesh.

Ranjit Singh is directing the film while, Bobby Bedi is co-producing it. Talking about the experience he shared working with Kseniya, Bedi said, “We shot with her in a village Paragpur on the outskirts of Himachal Pradesh, a two-hour drive from Chandigarh. It was a pleasure shooting with her.”

What made the filmmakers to think about Kseniya? Bedi explained, “Chintuji draws a lot of inspiration from Rishi Kapoor’s real life. There is a mention of Mera Naam Joker in the film. Ranjit Singh suggested that we should cast Kseniya who played a very important role opposite Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker because then it would really lend authenticity. She plays someone who changes Rishi’s life.”

It was not easy to rope in the actress as nobody had her contact information. “We got in touch with the Russian Film Commission and the Kapoors had a few contacts in Russia. We contacted her and she thankfully agreed. Chintuji is so close to Rishi that he has dedicated the film to his father and we are going to make a mention of that before the film begins,” added Bedi.

In Mera Naam Joker, Raj Kapoor played role of a joker for a circus. However for the same circus Kseniya played role of Marina, a Russian trapeze artiste. So the character of Raj Kapoor falls in love with her, despite having the language barrier and dreams of to marry her. But his heart breaks when Marina goes back to her country with the end of circus.

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