Dubbed Bollywood’s King of Romance, he is perhaps remembered best for his love sagas, some of which remain as fresh today as they were decades ago. Having directed 20 films in a career spanning some 50 years, besides having produced several films under his banner of Yash Raj Films, Yash Chopra’s contribution to Indian cinema is outstanding. So, it comes as little surprise to the industry that the director-producer is to be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for outstanding contribution to cinema, deemed the highest Indian honour in the field of film-making. On the trademark Yash Chopra romances, which have inspired a generation of filmmakers including Karan Johar, Dharmesh Darshan and son Aditya, Johar reveals that his first idea and concept of love came from Yash Chopra films. He says: ‘‘Romance meant a white saree billowing in the breeze, rose petals strewn across the room and Lata Mangeshkar’s voice filling up the space. No other filmmaker has made his heroines look as beautiful and virginal as he has.’’ With Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Paagal Hai, Mohabbatein and the subsequent films produced by him, Chopra expanded the market of Hindi films to include the NRI pockets of the UK and the US. He is perhaps the first Indian filmmaker to cater exclusively to the Bollywood-hungry NRI audiences, designing his films as hip, urban musicals about Indians settled across the world, but with their Indian values much intact. When he arrived in Mumbai from Jalandhar, Chopra first assisted his brother B.R. Chopra before becoming a director himself. His career includes such films as Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul, Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr and Dil To Paagal Hai. As a producer, he provided a platform to his son Aditya who directed the mega-grossing Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Mohabbatein. ‘‘I’m humbled by the honour,’’ Chopra says of the award. ‘‘To me, movies have been a means to entertain people,’’ he explains. Chopra reveals that he doesn’t like sad endings. ‘‘I always like to end with a ray of hope,’’ he says. At the cost of being labelled traditional and conventional, the filmmaker says he doesn’t believe in unfinished love stories. ‘‘Cinema is, after all, an escapist medium. People don’t want to see tragedies. They want to leave the hall with a pleasant feeling. And I like to give them that.’’ In a flash, he says the film closest to his heart and the one whose failure still disappoints him is Lamhe. ‘‘I’m told the film was ahead of its times. I’m told it was too bold. But if I felt I could tell the same story better today, I would remake the film immediately,’’ he says. Of all the actors he’s worked with until now, he says he has a special relationship with Amitabh Bachchan. ‘‘Both of us did some of our best work together. Even today, his talent and his presence on screen inspires me to write interesting roles for him,’’ Chopra says.
