Yash Chopra birth anniversary: Aditya Chopra pens an emotional note, Karan Johar, Divya Dutta thank late director for his films – bollywood

Filmmaker Aditya Chopra has penned an emotional note for his filmmaker father Yash Chopra on his 88th birthday on Sunday. He shared, in detail, how together they took their production house, Yash Raj Films, forward and turned it into an independent studio. Sunday also marks 50 years of Yash Raj Films.

Aditya wrote in his note, “In 1970, my father Yash Chopra, left the security and comfort of his brother Mr BR Chopra and formed his own company. Till then, he was a salaried employee of BR Films and didn’t own anything of his own. He did not know how to run a business and did not even have the basic knowledge of what goes into making a company. All he had was a strong belief in his talent and hardwork and a dream to be self-reliant. That conviction of a creative man backing nothing but himself and his art, gave birth to Yash Raj Films. Mr V Shantaram, who owned Rajkamal Studios, graciously gave him a small room in his studio for his office. My father didn’t know then, that the small company that he started in a tiny room, would one day become the biggest film company of the Indian Film Industry.” The note was shared on social media platforms by the official handles of YRF.

“In 1995, as Yash Raj Film entered its 25 year, my directorial debut Dilwale Dunlhaniye Le Jayenge released. The historic success of that film gave me confidence to give wings to some crazy ideas that I had for the future of YRF. Besides the immense love that my father had for me, he now also had a lot of faith in my ideas because of the miraculous success of my film. I had forseen the advent of corporate studios coming to India and taking over our business. I wanted us to achieve a certain scale, so that we could retain our independence before they came in.”

“My father contradicted his own conservative mindset and bravely indulged in all my bold initiatives. And in a span of 10 years, we went from a film production house to India’s first fully independent film studio. Across five decades, YRF, at its core, has been a traditional company with deep-rooted old-world values and a conservative approach to business. But at the same time its also been a bold, forward-looking company, constantly trying to push itself in embracing technology and innovation to be ahead of the curve. This perfect balance of traditional and modern is what defines Yash Raj Films,” he added.

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Filmmaker Karan Johar also posted the note, with his message on the late filmmaker’s birth anniversary. “His movies made me love the movies…his hand on my head gave me the strength to stand tall behind the camera..Yash Chopra was not just a filmmaker but a bonafide institution…a legacy so beautifully and Brilliantly taken forward by my mentor and teacher Aditya Chopra….#YRF50,” Karan tweeted.

Several others celebs, including Preity Zinta and Divya Dutta posted birthday messages for Yash Chopra. “You always remembered birthdays..was delightful to be wished by you every year.. for me my fav films were yours.. the romance was from your movies., and then I was directed by you and also got to know the lovely person that you were!!happy bday yash uncle !#YashChopra,” Divya tweeted with a picture from Veer Zara, her film with Yash.

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