Monojit Lahiri remembers Yash Chopra, Bollywood’s quintessential romantic filmmaker, whose films transformed love, longing, poetry, music and old-world values into an enduring cinematic language.

Forget how the late Yash Chopra came into the industry, riding on the shoulders and banner of his eminent and gifted big bro, B. R. Chopra. He even assisted I. S. Johar (my God!) for a while before hot-footing it back to Bhaisaab. Forget the early films he directed – Dhool Ka Phool and Dharamputra – which toed the “socially relevant and meaningful” line that defined the B. R. mantra, and cut to Waqt.

The time was the mid-sixties, and this full-on, escapist, entertainment-driven, big-budget, gorgeously lensed multi-starrer, with glamorous stars, a lost-and-found theme, romance, masala and thrills packaged in a mind-blowing manner, took every single viewer by storm!

A riveting, multi-layered story, cleverly blending old-world values with modern lifestyle statements, Waqt saw Yash ji clearly score big in the romantic scenes – especially those featuring the flamboyant Sunil Dutt and the OMG Sadhana! In some fashion, it set the tone and tenor of the YRF brand.

 

Daag And The Celebration Of Love

Little wonder that when he broke away from big bro’s B. R. camp to start his own – YRF – he began with a 40-carat love story, Daag. Powered by a cast to die for and suitably controversial – Rajesh-Sharmila-Rakhee, with the two Bengali ladies not exactly wild about each other – the film was a great success and catapulted Yash Chopra, his banner and his celebration of screen love to another planet!

Interestingly, while he continues to be labelled as the creator of the Angry Young Man – Deewaar, Trishul, Kaala Patthar – discerning Yash Chopra watchers will beg to differ.

While these movies were certainly spot-on in terms of production values, casting, detailing and craft, they were clearly Salim-Javed creations. Story, screenplay and dialogue – especially in these films – formed the soul of these narratives, and Yash Chopra never failed to acknowledge the huge contribution of these two master scriptwriters to their success.

The Angry Young Man Finds Love

In all truth, it was these two who – from Zanjeer onwards – transformed a talented but unlucky, loose-limbed loser into a towering inferno, symbolising the day and age’s Angry Young Man!

However, it was Yash Chopra – and him alone – who transformed those fists of fury and that mouth that uttered bitter, explosive and cynical lines into reciting heart-stopping poetry of love and longing that caressed the heart as it soothed the soul.

Both Kabhie Kabhie – which, incidentally, was reportedly shot alongside Deewaar and Silsila – were emotion-charged cries from the heart of a true-blue romantic.

Yash Chopra Faces The Eighties

The eighties found him suddenly out of sync with a time when Govinda and the Kader Khan-Shakti Kapoor brand of vulgar, lowbrow fare passed off as mass entertainment. Violence and mindless multi-starrers too entered the frame, totally confusing this old-world, romance-obsessed Majnu. In an effort to move with the times, he did try and experiment – Faasle, Mashaal, Vijay – but they bombed.

Typically, at the fag end of a disastrous decade, it was the love story Chandni (Rishi-Sridevi-Vinod K) that brought him zooming back into focus. Lamhe, which followed, was a hugely celebrated critical success, way before its time, and was followed by an unusual, love-driven thriller that was truly path-breaking.

Darr Creates A New Romantic Hero

Darr introduced a new anti-hero in the shape of Shah Rukh Khan – the new permanent fixture in the YRF camp! A super-smash, Yash ji, as he had earlier done with the Big B, next transformed this intense young actor, with fiery eyes, rat-a-tat dialogue delivery and volcanic energy, into a romantic hero par excellence when he oversaw his son Adi’s maiden directorial venture, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. A youth anthem today, DDLJ broke most records in the book to stand out as something special and unique – a textbook for young lovers wherever on earth it was shown.

He quickly moved in for the kill with another show-stopper, Dil To Pagal Hai, which slammed the target bang-on! SRK with the magnificent Madhuri, captivating Karisma and music to drive you nuts – this romantic triangle, with the usual YC trademark moments, consolidated the YC-SRK jodi big time.

He returned with another spectacular cross-border romance, Veer-Zaara (SRK, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji), and then took a break to return for his swan song, so fittingly and poignantly titled Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

A Legacy Built On Love

Along the way, Yash Chopra produced tons of other films, gave breaks to several young, new directors and created an amazing revenue model that brilliantly synergised art with commerce.

Today, as we salute the memory of this die-hard, hard-core romantic who so successfully blended Punjabiat and old-world values with a rare aesthetic sense – as demonstrated through his love for Sahir, Javed Akhtar, Gulzar and Urdu poetry – and yet unfailingly connected with every generation, past or present, we remember what he always taught us:

True love, like Yash Chopra, never dies. 

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