Old
memories got stirred up with the sad demise of a legendary phenomenon called
Yash Chopra. Missing a great stalwart like Yashji is a huge loss to the film
Industry. Film industry is a glittering world full of talents, but a few
dignitaries like him keep an everlasting impression of their own on it. The
veteran filmmaker and “King of romance” passed away in Mumbai on 21 October 2012.
This
journey called Yash Raj Chopra started in September 27, 1932 when youngest of
eight children Yash was born at Lahore. Initially being a film journalist he
tried to make a career in engineering, but his passion for filmmaking attracted
him towards the glamorous world of cinema. Instead of going to London for
further studies in engineering he tried joining his brother filmmaker B R
Chopra as an assistant. He was keeping an ambition of becoming a film director.
His brother diverted him to I S Johar for getting the initial lessons of film
making. After taking a few lessons from Johar he joined his brother B R Chopra.
There he worked for two years as an apprentice. He was offered first
opportunity to direct a film called Dhool Ka Phool in 1959 which he fulfilled
successfully. Encouraged by the success, Chopra brothers together made many
movies like Waqt and Ittefaq. Yash Chopra received his first ‘Film fare award’
for directing the film ‘Waqt’ in 1965.
Another
milestone for him was making of film ‘Ittefaq’ which was a low budget film made
in just a months period. It was recorded as Bellwood’s first movie without an
interval and song. This film rewarded Yash with “Best director film fare award”.
After
this initial success shared with his brothers he worked alone and made
landmarks by giving films like Deewar, Trishul, Silsila and Chandani. Then getting
separated from his brother B R Chopra, Yash established a production house in
1971 called ‘Yash Raj Films’. Year 1973 was a year of great achievement for him
when he made Yash Raj Film Studio in Mumbai. Super hit film ‘Daag’ opened the
account of many block busters which YRF gave to the film industry. Somewhere in
this period Yashji introduced ‘Amitabh Bachchan’ as the angry young man in “Deewar”
and then a non stop era of giving super hit films one after the other
continued. During the period when film industry was revolving mainly around
topics of social problems and love stories, it was this great film maker who gave
a new direction. This proved to be a revolution in Hindi cinema which made
Amitabh a superstar, with a solid image of angry young man in the movies
hitting box office one after the other.
A
few years in the eighties was a setback for YR films but again he came on the
success track, this time making a little change in his topics. His film Chandani
received National Film Fare award in 1989 which was a great come back for the
veteran film maker. In 1991 ‘Lamhe’ was credited
the biggest Bollywood hit in overseas market. His recent films reflected his
love for Switzerland where he made many of his modern era films. Bagging
reputed film awards was an easy task for him. He won eleven Film fare awards
for his outstanding films and the topmost reward Padma Bhushan in 2005. Through
out his life till his demise he lived a life of a dedicated gentleman in the film
industry. We at Panoramic group’s Magic
Holidays pay a hearty tribute to this all time young film maker, who left
behind lots of beautiful memories and many things for the coming generations to
learn from.
