Yash Chopra

Chopra received his first directorial opportunity in 1959 with the social drama Dhool Ka Phool,[13] produced by his elder brother B.R. Chopra and starring Mala Sinha, Rajendra Kumar and Leela Chitnis. The film revolved around a Muslim bringing up an "illegitimate" Hindu child.[8] The film was well received by critics and became the fourth highest-grossing film of the year. Encouraged by their success, the Chopras made another hard-hitting social drama, Dharmputra (1961).[15] It was one of the first films to depict the Partition of India[13] and Hindu fundamentalism. The film marked the debut of Shashi Kapoor in a fully fledged role and was awarded with the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.

Chopra's collaboration with his brother continued in the form of the 1965 film Waqt,[8] which featured an ensemble cast including Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhana, Balraj Sahni, Madan Puri, Sharmila Tagore, Achala Sachdev and Rehman. The film became a critical and commercial success. It is acknowledged as a "found film" of the "lost and found" genre. Setting many other trends, it was one of Indian cinema's first multi-starrers,[8] a mode which became increasingly popular among the producers during the 1970s. It also began the now obligatory style of depicting wealth and social class. Chopra received his first Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film.

In 1969, Chopra directed two movies produced by his brother. The first was Aadmi Aur Insaan,[8] which featured Dharmendra and Saira Banu in the lead roles. He directed Ittefaq (1969),[8] a suspense movie based on a Gujarati play, depicting the events of a single night, with Rajesh Khanna and Nanda in the lead roles. Shot in a month and on a low budget, the film was deemed unusual by critics. It was one of the first Hindi films which did not have any songs or an interval. It was eventually declared a semi-hit[16] at the box-office and won Chopra his second Filmfare Award for Best Director.

Amitabh Bachchan (left) and Yash Chopra in the premiere of Paa Chopra made a number of classic cult films starring Amitabh Bachchan.[8] Chopra's Deewaar gave Amitabh Bachchan the tag "Angry Young Man".[17]

In 1970, Chopra founded the independent Yash Raj Films, terminating his creative collaboration with his brother.[5][13] His first independently produced film, Daag: A Poem of Love (1973),[18] a melodrama about polygamy, starring Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee was a huge success and Chopra won his third Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film.

He directed a number of classic cult films starring Amitabh Bachchan and scripted by Salim–Javed, notably Deewaar and Trishul, which were huge hits and remain popular even today.[17] These films set the trend for the late-'70s and '80s, establishing Bachchan as the "angry young man". Chopra won his fourth Filmfare Award for Best Director for Deewaar. Chopra produced, directed and scripted 2 more films starring Bachchan. Unlike his earlier action-oriented films, these 2 were musical romantic dramas: Kabhi Kabhie (1976),[5][8] co-starring Raakhee, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, followed by Silsila (1981),[5] co-starring Jaya Bachchan, Rekha and Sanjeev Kumar. Yash Chopra suggested Javed Akhtar to become a lyricist, starting from this film.[19]

The '80s marked a professional setback in Chopra's career, as several films he directed and produced in that period failed to leave a mark at the Indian box-office. His film Mashaal (1984) was his first collaboration with the legendary actor, Dilip Kumar. The action-oriented film, which was based on the well-known Marathi play titled Ashroonchi Zhali Phule, received critical acclaim, but fared only average at the box-office. A year later, he made Faasle. The romantic drama starring Sunil Dutt, Rekha, Rohan Kapoor and Farah was a critical and commercial disaster.[9] He and critics consider it his worst film. Vijay (1988)[8] was also a box-office failure.[9] The film received mixed reviews from critics and was dubbed a remake of Trishul.

Chopra's lean phase ended in 1989 with the highly successful romantic musical Chandni,[8] a film with all the hallmarks of what has come to be known as the "Yash Chopra style": heroine-oriented, romantic, emotional, depicting the lifestyle of the elite, with melodic music used in songs picturized in foreign locations. It marked the first collaboration between Chopra and Sridevi. The huge success of its music was instrumental in ending the era of violence in Bollywood films and bringing back music into Hindi films. After a string of critically and commercially movies, the success of Chandni consolidated Sridevi's position as the top female Bollywood star of the era. Though it was not the first time Chopra shot a film in Switzerland, the extensive scenes shot there made it a popular tourist destination for Indians. The film won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment for 1989.[20]

He followed it with Lamhe (1991),[8] an intergenerational musical romantic drama starring frequent collaborators Sridevi and Anil Kapoor. The film received high critical acclaim, had exceptional music, and was one of the biggest Bollywood hits in the overseas market. However, it was a moderate box-office success in India due to its controversial storyline. The film won five Filmfare awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Film. Over the years, Lamhe has been hailed as a cult classic; it is regarded as a modern masterpiece and possibly his finest film to date. It was featured in Outlook magazine's list of All-Time Great Indian films.[21] It has been cited by Chopra as his personal favourite of his films.[19] In 1992, Chopra directed Parampara. Despite an all-star cast of Ramya Krishnan, Aamir Khan, Raveena Tandon, Sunil Dutt, Anupam Kher, Vinod Khanna, Ashwini Bhave and Saif Ali Khan (In his film debut), the film was a commercial failure and was panned by critics for its weak storyline and music although Chopra's direction was commended.

Yash Chopra and Shahrukh Khan (left). Chopra was responsible for shaping Khan's career.[5]

In 1993, Yash Chopra directed the newcomer Shahrukh Khan along with Juhi Chawla and Sunny Deol in the musical psychological thriller Darr.[5][8] The movie was the story of an obsessed lover (Khan) and the lengths to which he goes to get the girl (Chawla) who is already happily engaged to another man (Deol). The film was a runaway success and is considered a cult classic today. It also established Khan as a bankable star. 4 years later, Chopra then directed, produced and co-wrote the highly successful 1997 musical romantic drama Dil To Pagal Hai,[8] starring yet again Shahrukh Khan in a love quadrangle with Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor and Akshay Kumar. It was the first Bollywood movie to be shot in Germany. The film became the highest grosser for the year. It won many awards, including 7 Filmfare Awards and 3 National Awards, including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Chopra then took a sabbatical from directing and focused solely on producing films for over 7 years.

In 2004, he returned to direction with the epic love saga Veer-Zaara.[8] Starring Shahrukh Khan again, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji in the lead roles, the film was the biggest hit of 2004 in both India and overseas, with a worldwide gross of over ₹940 million and was screened at the Berlin Film Festival to critical appreciation. The film which narrated the love story of an Indian air-force officer Veer Pratap Singh (Khan) and a Pakistani woman, Zaara Hayaat Khan (Zinta) was highly appreciated by critics. Rama Sharma from The Tribune wrote: "Giving love its due, Yash Chopra has understandably linked the script to the life of a common man. The pace is exacting. Drawing from the best of the two countries, the story is made more colourful by a spray of the Punjabi culture— be it celebrating Lohri in India or visiting a Dargah in Pakistan. He has handled the script cleverly. Whenever the pace begins to slacken, he introduces a new character and a twist."

In September 2012, in a special interview with actor Shahrukh Khan on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, Chopra announced that Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012)[8] would be his last directorial venture and that he would opt to focus on his production company and his personal life. For the shoot of the last remaining song in Jab Tak Hai Jaan, director Yash Chopra wanted to shoot a scene of a sari-clad Katrina Kaif romancing Shahrukh Khan in the lush meadows of the Swiss Alps. But his illness, caused by a bout of dengue, stymied the plan for the song, which would have reflected his trademark directorial style.

Yash Raj Films (YRF) is the most dominant production company in Hindi filmmaking. Yash Raj Chopra has continuously featured in the top five hit Indian movies of the year since 2000. The Indian film director and producer used a range of directors. He repetitively used the star power of Bollywood's most popular actors, Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan.

Yash Raj Films is a highlight of India's post-colonial identity. It has grown to be the forefront of the global rise of Bollywood cinema. Yash Raj Films have expanded their company from locally based Hindi films to global achievements. They have managed to attract home based and diasporic Indians. Yash Raj Films have used a smart technique by incorporating foreign locations as a site which succeeded.

Chopra was known to often cast the same actors in his films, his most famous collaborations being with Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Raakhee, Waheeda Rehman and more recently, Shahrukh Khan.