Bollywood Moghul leaves behind a silsila
22 Oct 2012 7:16 AM IST
In the death of Yashraj Chopra [27 September 1932-21 October 2012], who passed away in Mumbai on Sunday after a brief illness, the general moan would be about the loss of the incorrigible romanticist who broke many a traditional barriers while depicting love touching on the issues of secularism [Dharmaputra], bigamy [Daag], extra-marital affair [Silsila] and incest [Lamhe]. While scripting films with a pen which came straight from Cupid's quiver, Chopra could also manage use other time tested formulae for a film's success – Waqt [lost and found] and Deewar [crime].
While almost everybody would recall his abilities as director of innumerable commercial hits, the film industry for ever remain grateful to him for having created an institution called the Yashraj Films [YRF], which marked the corporatisation of the film industry, where anybody even without a 'filmi' contact, a la Shahrukh Khan, could look forward to making a career.
Unlike the other houses like RK Films [Raj Kapoor], Navketan [Dev Anand] and Mukta Arts [Subhash Ghai], YRF could maintain a great balance between promoting talent from within the family and outside. Last year Karan Johar while talking to the students of Kasiga School at Purukul near Mussoorie, where his latest film Student of the year is shot, told them about the possibility of career in film industry which awaited their creative skills.
Johar and too an extent Vidhu Vinod Chopra emulated Yash Chopra taking the back seat at times and allowing a creative talent to come out with an extra-ordinary narrative. Ever since, the economy opened up and films found a market abroad, the YRF made a huge splash and came of age with several top grosser directed by young talents.
The list of young directors, who changed the grammar of Hindi cinema, coming out of YRF stable is distinguished and includes successes like Sanjay Gadhvi [Dhoom], Shaad Ali [Bunty aur Babli], Siddharth Anand [Salaam Namaste], Shimit Amin [Chak de India], Pradeep Sarkar [Laaga Chunri Mein Daag], Maneesh Sharma [Band Baaja Baraat] and of course Kunal Kohli [Hum Tum, Fanaa]. Thanks to YRF, a Habib Faisal [ Ishqzade] and a Vijay Krishna Acharya [Tashan], from The Players drama society of Kirori Mal College in Delhi University, could find a toe-hold in the industry; so did Kabir Khan [New York, Ek Tha Tiger] from the Hindu College.
The Hollywood Reporter in 2004, placed Yash Raj Films at 27 in a survey of the 'Biggest Film Distribution Houses' in the world. Since 2006, the company is rated as India's biggest production house. Chopra would continue to live just not through his films but also in the numerous talents he groomed in the career spanning over half-a-century.
While almost everybody would recall his abilities as director of innumerable commercial hits, the film industry for ever remain grateful to him for having created an institution called the Yashraj Films [YRF], which marked the corporatisation of the film industry, where anybody even without a 'filmi' contact, a la Shahrukh Khan, could look forward to making a career.
Unlike the other houses like RK Films [Raj Kapoor], Navketan [Dev Anand] and Mukta Arts [Subhash Ghai], YRF could maintain a great balance between promoting talent from within the family and outside. Last year Karan Johar while talking to the students of Kasiga School at Purukul near Mussoorie, where his latest film Student of the year is shot, told them about the possibility of career in film industry which awaited their creative skills.
Johar and too an extent Vidhu Vinod Chopra emulated Yash Chopra taking the back seat at times and allowing a creative talent to come out with an extra-ordinary narrative. Ever since, the economy opened up and films found a market abroad, the YRF made a huge splash and came of age with several top grosser directed by young talents.
The list of young directors, who changed the grammar of Hindi cinema, coming out of YRF stable is distinguished and includes successes like Sanjay Gadhvi [Dhoom], Shaad Ali [Bunty aur Babli], Siddharth Anand [Salaam Namaste], Shimit Amin [Chak de India], Pradeep Sarkar [Laaga Chunri Mein Daag], Maneesh Sharma [Band Baaja Baraat] and of course Kunal Kohli [Hum Tum, Fanaa]. Thanks to YRF, a Habib Faisal [ Ishqzade] and a Vijay Krishna Acharya [Tashan], from The Players drama society of Kirori Mal College in Delhi University, could find a toe-hold in the industry; so did Kabir Khan [New York, Ek Tha Tiger] from the Hindu College.
The Hollywood Reporter in 2004, placed Yash Raj Films at 27 in a survey of the 'Biggest Film Distribution Houses' in the world. Since 2006, the company is rated as India's biggest production house. Chopra would continue to live just not through his films but also in the numerous talents he groomed in the career spanning over half-a-century.
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