Statesmen: Yash Raj Chopra

Some people are born great and some achieve the distinction but there is a rare class that belongs to both. They are born great and they achieve new heights of greatness to assert the fact. Yash Chopra is a fellow of the league. The man behind the biggest banner of India and some timeless classics, Yash Raj is a person of ethics, values and traditions.

Yashraj saw many successes and few failures. Silsila achieved cult status. Deewar is often rated above Sholay. Dag, Kabhie Kabhie and Veer Zaara established new definitions to love and trust. Dharamputra and Lamhe failed on screen but sizzled on silver discs. Darr, Parampara and Joshila gave new color to story telling and… who can forget Dil To Pagal Hai.

Two path breaking movies by Yashraj were Silsila and Lamhe. Silsila was a complicated movie with a touch of reality and Lamhe failed on celluloid but meant a lot to the maverick.
Silsila had Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri and Rekha. Jaya and Amit were real life pair while the hottest news of the era was affair between reel life pair Amitabh and Rekha. In the classic, Amitabh was paired with Rekha who under unfortunate circumstances married Jaya. Yashraj poured all his efforts to bring the trio and with a brilliant script and excellent music, colored the screen.

Lamhe was an interesting movie. Anil Kapoor was in love with Sridevi who maries someone else and Sri’s daughter (again Sri) meets him after her parents death. She fells in love with him. Without a moustache (rare) Anil was brilliant and was greatly complemented by Sridevi in double role. Movie was atleast two decades ahead of time. Verdict Flop!!

But success or failure cannot define greatness. From Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor to Anil Kapoor and Shahrukh Khan… from Rekha, Rakhi to Priety Zinta to Rani Mukherjee… every star felt the aura. Yash Chopra is to Bollywood what no body can be to Hollywood.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh