5.31 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Yash Chopra and Bollywood's 'new love'

Published
By Ajanta Paul

The 'king of romance', Yash Chopra, changed the face of romance in Hindi cinema to become a brand in Bollywood with numerous hits under his belt in his five-decade long illustrious career.

Veteran Bollywood filmmaker passed away in Mumbai on Sunday evening after being hospitalised due to dengue attack.

In a career spanned over five decades, Yash Chopra made some of Hindi cinema's best love stories, also winning six National Film Awards and eleven Filmfare awards.

He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2005 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

He is the first Indian to be honored at BAFTA in 59-year history of the academy with a lifetime membership to BAFTA for his contribution to the Indian film industry.

He made his directorial debut with 'Dhool Ka Phool' in 1959. The film revolved around a Muslim bringing up an `illegitimate' Hindu child. The film was well received by critics.

This encouraged by the response Chopra then came with 'Dharmaputra (1961), a hard hitting social drama, which was one of the first films to depict the scenario of partition of India and the Hindu fundamentalism.

He received his first Filmfare Best Director Award in 1965 for 'Waqt'. The film became a commercial and a critical success and is acknowledged as a 'found film' of the 'lost and found' genre. 'Waqt' was a trendsetter with multi-starrers.

In 1971 he launched India's biggest production house, Yash raj Films, with the box office hit 'Daag' a melodrama about a man with two wives, was a great success.

A number of his films earned cult status. It was Yash Raj who launched veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan as the iconic angry young man'in 'Deewar' in 1975. 'Trishul' which starred Bachchan also went on to be a huge hit.

Chopra's next two outings with Amitabh Bachchan were romantic dramas. 'Kabhie Kabhie' and 'Silsila' were not just box office hits of the time, but eternal love stories in Indian cinema that went on to become yardsticks by which later romantic movies were judged.

The eighties were however a lean period for the veteran director-producer with a number of his films failing at the box office.

This phase ended in 1989 with the highly successful cult classic 'Chandni'. This movie set a style sheet called the "Yash Chopra style": heroine-oriented, romantic, emotional, depicting the lifestyle of the super elite, with melodic music used in songs picturised in foreign locations.

In 1993, Yash Chopra directed newcomer Shah Rukh Khan along with Juhi Chawla and Sunny Deol in the musical thriller 'Darr'. Not a commercial blockbuster then but now a cult classic, 'Darr' also introduced the next superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

If Shah Rukh Khan is called the King, Chopra was definitely the kingmaker and gave support and fillip to many an artiste’s career and making them into superstars.

In 1997 highly successful romantic musical 'Dil To Pagal Hai' won the prolific director many accolades.

Chopra then took a sabbatical for over eight years but came back in 2004 with a love saga 'Veer-Zaara'. The film was the biggest hit of 2004 in both India and overseas.

Chopra announced that 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' (2012) would be his last directorial venture. The movie was almost complete barring one romantic song which he wanted to shoot in Switzerland with Shah Rukh and Katrina Kaif. This task remains unfulfilled.

He had a grand vision: a sari-clad Katrina Kaif romancing Shah Rukh Khan in the lush meadows of the Swiss Alps. But unfortunately, his illness, caused by a bout of dengue, thwarted the plan for the song, which would have reflected his trademark directorial style.

His last film ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ is set to hit theaters on November 13.

MUST READ:

Bollywood in complete shock and grief after Yash Chopra passes away

 

BREAKING NEWS: Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra dead