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Veteran actor Mumtaz admitted that the late filmmaker Yash Chopra, founder of the Yash Raj Films banner, was smitten by her back in the day. He was working as an assistant to his brother, BR Chopra, who produced a few films that Mumtaz starred in. She said in an interview that he would also show up at her house, and would propose marriage to her on a regular basis. But she was never romantically attracted towards him, she said, as she emotionally recalled his passing. Yash Chopra died in 2012, just before the release of his final film, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan.
In an interview with journalist Vickey Lalwani, she was asked if the reports of Yash Chopra pursuing her were true. She said, “Not once, he must’ve asked me 1000 times. But I was not in love with him, so how could I have married him? I’m exaggerating about 1000 times, but he told me several occasions, ‘Aye moti, I love you yaar, marry me’. But, you see, to have such a close relationship with anybody, you have to fall in love with the person. You have to be close to the person, and for that, you have to have chemistry. If you don’t have the chemistry, how can you live together as a married couple? I never had that chemistry with him.”
She said that she liked him as ‘a director and producer’, but it never went beyond that. “As a human being, he was one of the best people to be around. He would always make people laugh on set. I wept when he passed away. I was in London at the time. He’d called me a little while earlier and told me to watch his new film. He said to me, ‘Promise you’ll watch it’. I said yes. But he was gone. It was very sad, because he was a nice person.”
Through tears, Mumtaz continued, “He was such a wonderful person. I don’t know why he died so young. I don’t know what illness he had. I’m sure his family must’ve tried their best, but they couldn’t save him. His daughter-in-law Rani met me at a party, and she was telling me, ‘Yash ji wanted you to visit the studio. When will you come? I’ll give you a round.’ I really wanted to see it, because it was his last wish. But it would be inappropriate to call and ask for a tour now.”
She said that Yash Chopra would show up at her house when she was out for work, and that her mother would say that he’s a nice man. “His wife was a nice person too. I’ve been to their house a few times. She entertained us very well. She was a very nice person,” Mumtaz said. She worked with Yash Chopra’s brother, BR Chopra, on two films, Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969) and Hamraaz (1967). In the same interview, she admitted that she was very attracted to Rajesh Khanna and Shammi Kapoor, but she couldn’t pursue relationships with them for different reasons.
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