April 22, 2014 marks the centennial birth anniversary of renowned film director and producer BR Chopra. As remarked by Mark Tully, “his legacy lives on in a new generation of film-makers who believe, like him, that films should be entertaining, but also have a relevant social message.”
The man noted for making avant-garde movies and television series like Mahabharata is known to have been charmed by the idyllic hills of Uttarakhand and kept returning to the State. It is this connection that Chopra had with the State and more from his life that will be showcased in a centennial commemoration event being organised on April 22 by Doon library and Research Centre. The programme will feature rare snippets and personal anecdotes about Chopra, a journey into his life and career with a special focus on his dalliance with the Himalayas.
“We hand-picked Bollywood personalities who worked closely with Chopra and have got their personal messages narrating their experiences with him and what relevance they attach to him today. These include lyricist Hasan Kamaal, producer-financer Ravi Chand who worked with Chopra for 27 years, writer Achala Nagar known who did films like ‘Baghban’ and ‘Nikaah’ and sound recordist, BK Chaturvedi among others. Apart from Chopra, tributes will be paid to his writers, namely, Pt Mukhram Sharma, CJ Pavri, Akhter Mirza and Akhter-ul-Iman, lyricist Sahir ludhianvi, music director N Datta, composer Ravi, his editor Pran Mehra and S B Mane, his cinematographers, MN Malhotra and Dharam Chopra, his financier, VV Purie, who also financed Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor and later on became the founder of India Today and finally his production controller CVK Shastry. This will be followed by screening of a selection of the best of scenes of Chopra’s movies. The tribute will conclude with a show of the 1961 hit Dharamputra,” informed Manoj Panjani of DlRC.
Based on a novel of the same name by Acharya Chatursen, this movie produced by BR Chopra was the first Hindi film to portray the partition of India and communal fundamentalism and won the President’s silver medal apart from holding special significance to Chopra who related it to his own life having been uprooted from lahore during the partition of India.
Chopra’s love for Uttarakhand began with his visit to Nainital for shooting of the film ‘Gumrah’. The film depicted the conflict of a married woman who was caught between her ardour for her lover and her duty to her husband and family. Mala Sinha and Nirupa Roy were shown as daughters of a wealthy Nainital resident in the movie which captured the scenic beauty of the lake city.
Recalling Chopra’s fascination for Uttarakhand’s hills, noted Bollywood sound recordist, BK Chaturvedi who worked closely with him told The Pioneer, “BR loved Naini lake. He said that he had travelled all over the country for shooting but there was no place more appealing than the hills of Nainital.”
Chopra returned to Nainital to shoot the popular song ‘Din hain bahaar ke’ in the 1965 super-hit ‘Waqt’. The song was sung by Asha Bhosle and Mahendra Kapoor and starred Sharmila Kapoor with Shashi Kapoor. Shot at the splendid lake, the song had an appealing youthful chorus and brought out the best of the hill station. Four years later, was shot in Dak Patthar, Dehradun another BR Chopra multi-starrer hit titled ‘Admi aur Insaani’. Chopra’s 1979 film Karm, starring Rajesh Khanna, Vidya Sinha and Shabana Azmi was also shot in the Dehradun- Rishikesh-Mussoorie region. “In Karm, when the heroine she takes refuge in Haridwar and joins an Ashram, gives birth to a son and works as a nurse in Dehradun. Meanwhile, the hero gives-in to his parents’ wish to marry Neelam. In the turn of events, he later shifts to Dehradun and unknowingly gets in-touch with his own son. And then follows the rest of the movie in Doon. BR Chopra has a personal connection with Dehradun too as his brother KR Chopra was the manager of Race Course branch of Punjab National Bank in the seventies. BR visited Doon often to meet family as well. He found a mystic appeal in Uttarakhand,” stated Panjani.