More to Yash Chopra than romance in the Alps, chiffon sarees: He gave India the ‘angry young man’, films on religious amity

For those, who only remember Chopra for spotlighting beautiful shots of chiffon saree-clad actresses dancing in the snow-capped Alps, it might be hard to believe that the filmmaker made his debut as a director with Dhool Ka Phool (1959), a film that hailed communal harmony. It had a Muslim man raising a Hindu child who is born out of wedlock. The man, who takes the child home without thinking about his religion, doesn’t teach him to be a Muslim or a Hindu, he teaches him, “Tu Hindu banega na Musalmaan banega, insaan ki aulaad hai, insaan banega.” If only these ethos were imbibed in our current society…

Rajendra Kumar and Nanda on the set of film Dhool Ka Phool. (Express archive photo)

Not just this, Chopra took some risks and picked daring themes in the first ten years of his career. After Dhool Ka Phool, he directed the National Award-winning Dharamputra in 1961, a film that focused on the sensitive issue of Partition and promoted religious harmony. Spread over 20 years, from 1925 until 1947, it illustrated how the sentiment of the country changed from ‘Hindu-Muslim Bhai-Bhai’ in 1925 to ‘Hindu Hindi Hindustan, Qaid-e-Azam ka elan, bankar rahega Pakistan’ in 1947. The story centered around a Hindu boy who abhorred everything non-Hindu and actively participated in protests against Muslims. It’s been 61 years since the film was released, but you will still find it relevant.

Irrespective of the subject he picked, a Yash Chopra movie came with an assurance of drama, dance and GREAT music. In 1965, he directed the multi-starrer Waqt, starring Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Sadhana, Sharmila Tagore, Shashi Kapoor and Balraj Sahni. Though melodramatic, the film gave a thrilling experience of watching a ‘masaledaar’ courtroom drama around a murder with elements of love, fate, family, separation, and longing. This was Chopra’s first colour film, and he made the most of it. Special mention here should go to the costume designer Bhanu Athaiya who hit the ball out of the park with period-specific outfits.

Sridevi with Yash Chopra. (Express Archive Photo)

He gave a perfect ending to the first decade of his career with the whodunit Ittefaq (1969). It revolved around a painter (Rajesh Khanna) who is accused of murdering his wife. What made Ittefaq interesting was the shifting temperaments of its lead characters. At one moment, there was a sense of empathy and fear in the characters, and at the other moment, you find them conniving against each other.

Then came the 70s and Yash Chopra gave three decade-defining films: Deewar (1975), Trishul (1978), and Kaala Patthar (1979), none were quintessential romantic dramas. Amitabh Bachchan made his way to the top with the three films and dominated the Hindi film industry. In the classic tale of two brothers Deewar, Chopra portrayed Bachchan as the voice of the angry and unemployed youth who is ultimately shot down by his police officer brother (Shashi Kapoor). From here on, began the success story of the “Angry Young Man” of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan. With Kaala Patthar, Chopra managed to prove how well he can handle a film with multiple lead characters. He did justice to each one of them, Shatrughan Sinha’s Mangal Singh, Shashi Kapoor’s Ravi and Bachchan’s Vijay. It’s hard not to think of the shots in the film that showed Bachchan in his full glory, for instance, the one where he walks straight towards the camera with blasts at a coal mine in the backdrop.

But after giving a milestone film to the Indian cinema in Deewar, Chopra immediately transformed the ‘angry young man’ into a poet in Kabhi Kabhie (1976). When everyone was encashing Bachchan’s ‘angry man’ aura, he dared to show him as a lover in Silsila (1981).

The Yash Chopra directorial Silsila was the last film where the audience got to see Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha together on the screen. (Express Archive Photo)

Chopra had a simple explanation for his inclination towards romantic dramas. He once told veteran film journalist Rafique Baghdadi, “I feel a suspense or a comedy film is not a very lasting thing for a filmmaker. The moment the suspense is over, the next audience knows what it is all about. Films where basic emotions are involved last longer.” He believed “heart is less” in thrillers. He reasoned that a film’s basic plot should be “emotional” and while watching the characters, the audience must feel they have “seen or met the people.”

Hence, in 1989 there was Chandni. After experimenting with various themes in the first 20 years of his film career, Chopra revived romantic musicals. As Karan Johar had put it, the film “brought back love, romance and music” and it was a film that “brought Switzerland on the Indian map.” Chandni created a template called Yash Raj Movie which to some extent is still used by Yash Raj Films. After Chandni, the film maestro showcased different shades of love, from obsessive (Darr) to sacrificial (Veer Zara) which brought back the audience to him every time.

For Chopra, filmmaking was all about touching upon several human emotions. He felt Deewar also worked because it “was a very emotional film with human relationships at its core.” Ultimately, whatever he created from Dhool Ka Phool (1959) to Jab Tak Hai Jaan (his last film which was released a month after his death), portrayed human emotions in their full glory.

Yes, he was certainly ‘King of Romance’, but Yash Chopra’s oeuvre also included bold films about the aftermath of the partition, communal harmony, and a lot more. So, if you really want to know what made Yash Chopra the master of Indian cinema, it’s worth revisiting his more textured and complex films from the 60s and 70s.