Yash Chopra was the messiah of love

‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ was his last film.

For legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra, who would have turned 90 on September 27, both life and cinema were all about ‘mohabbat’ or love.

When Chopra wanted to become a filmmaker but was under family pressure to become an engineer, his mother’s encouraging love made him leave for Mumbai from Punjab. He left with her gift of Rs 200 — a big sum in the early 1950s.

When Raaj Kumar did not want a ‘new director’ to helm ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ (Chopra’s debut in 1959), it was elder brother and producer B R Chopra’s love that made him replace the actor with Rajendra Kumar instead. And when Chopra wanted to branch out independently after his wife Pamela Chopra became pregnant, it was his mother again who encouraged him. The result was the birth of Yash Raj Films, which went on to become Hindi cinema’s biggest banner. It turned 50 last year.

Chopra’s crew (make-up whiz Pandhari Juker, recording engineer Mangesh Desai, writers Salim-Javed and Sagar Sarhadi, cinematographers Kaygee and later Manmohan Singh, lyricists Sahir Ludhianvi and later Anand Bakshi, playback legend Lata Mangeshkar, editor Pran Mehra) and actors like Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Raakhee and Shah Rukh Khan were pivotal for his success.

The filmmaker explored every conceivable aspect of love. He examined a man living with two wives in ‘Daag’, a woman falling for a man who resembles her dead husband in ‘Doosara Aadmi’, and an obsessive stalker in Darr and a cross-country ardor in Veer-Zaara.

Music in his films emanated amour—with songs like Mere dil mein aaj (Daag), Kabhi kabhi (Kabhi Kabhie), Lagi aaj saawan (Chandni) and Tere liye (Veer-Zaara) radiating romance to the extent of reflecting the essence of these films.

Chopra, who first assisted comedian-filmmaker IS Johar and then his acclaimed brother BR Chopra, delivered his first hit in his debut, ‘Dhool Ka Phool’, and delivered several blockbusters for over five decades. The illustrious list includes Waqt and Ittefaq (1960s), Daag, Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie and Trishul (1970s), Chandni (1980s), Darr, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (as producer) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1990s), Veer-Zaraa besides Dhoom and Dhoom 2 as presenter (2000s) and his swan song, Jab Tak Hai Jaan besides Ek Tha Tiger as presenter (2012).

On the eve of his last directorial’s release, Chopra succumbed to dengue. But he left behind an enviable legacy of cinema, apart from the human talent in his family—writer-director and producer-son Aditya Chopra, his younger son, Uday, also an actor- filmmaker, while wife Pamela Chopra has also been a singer and producer.

When we had met up, Chopra had said, “God must be kind to me. I have always moved with the times and made films I believed in, though there were a couple of exceptions. I shunned senseless violence and morbidity. From my guru and brother, I learnt that films are to be watched with one’s family, and there should be nothing to offend one’s sensibilities or embarrass your parents, spouse, children or siblings. I have preferred to deal with human relationships, and if possible, inculcate a subtle message. I love to observe why humans love or even hate each other.”

A priceless sub-text followed: “And when I say I moved with the times, I meant that my technique and treatment were never dated. A pair of lovers can have many obstacles, like parents, villains or calamities, but I preferred one in the shape of a third human being who was also in love.”

Besides the clichéd hype that Chopra would shoot gorgeous saree-clad heroines against a backdrop of (often Swiss) mountains, the filmmaker, especially under his banner, became best known as a visionary who discovered several gifted actors. Among those who owe their debuts or breakthroughs to Chopra are Amitabh Bachchan in his second innings (‘Mohabbatein’), Kajol, Poonam Dhillon, Farooq Shaikh, Saif Ali Khan, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor.

Chopra was conferred India’s highest honour in cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke award, apart from the Padma Bhushan and a chain of accolades and honours from India, U K, Switzerland, USA and the Middle-East. Uniquely, Switzerland has named some prime tourist spots after the films he shot there.