Yash Chopra, Bollywood’s ‘King of Romance,’ has died

Famed Bollywood filmmaker and producer Yash Chopra, often called India's "King of Romance," passed away over the weekend at the age of 80. The elderly director had contracted dengue fever earlier this month.

Perhaps best known abroad for romantic musicals like 1989's "Chandi," 1991's "Lamhe," and 2004's "Veer-Zaara," Chopra's biggest contribution to his native cinema was arguably the award-winning 1975 movie "Deewaar," which essentially rewrote the rules of the Bollywood film. Starring Indian A-lister Amitabh Bachchan as anti-hero Vijay Varma, "Deewaar" helped establish the actor as the "angry young man" of Indian cinema and make him into the star he is today. The film also redefined how women were portrayed in Bollywood, featuring actress Parveen Babi as "a liberated working girl, smoking, drinking and sleeping with her lover." In a country that had previously known mainly wholesome romance films and moral tales, Chopra's violent and edgy "Deewaar" was a groundbreaking new direction for Bollywood.

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The director/ producer enjoyed a long working relationship with leading man Bachchan, collaborating with him on nearly a dozen films over the last 44 years, most notably on their "Deewaar" follow-up "Kabhie Kabhie" and on the more recent "Veer-Zaara." Over on his official website, Bachchan remembered the director as "a friend first, a creative legend later" in a blog post.

"Yash ji, your contribution to the millions that had the privilege to witness your creativity shall be immortal … may we all savour it till our end …" Bachchan wrote.

In his later years, Chopra was also credited with helping to revive the romantic musical — a genre that had begun to wane in popularity in the 1980s because of more violent and action-oriented fare. His 1989 film "Chandni" not only resurrected the director's sagging career, but also aided in breathing new life into the Bollywood romantic musical. "Chandni" won the top prize at India's National Film Awards and broke box office records. The film is notable not only for its memorable musical numbers, but also because much of it was shot on location in the comparatively exotic Switzerland. Using European locales would become a Chopra trademark in the years that followed.

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Born in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan) on Sept. 27, 1932, Chopra was the youngest of eight children. Originally planning on a career in engineering, Chopra instead travelled to Mumbai at the age of 15 to follow in the footsteps of his elder brother B.R., a film journalist turned filmmaker. In his nearly 60 year career, Chopra directed 22 films and produced countless others through his successful production company Yash Raj Films. Chopra's two sons Aditya and Uday have taken up the family business, with Aditya becoming a successful filmmaker in his own right and Uday recently making his film debut as an actor.

Working until his final days, Chopra's latest film, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan (As Long As I Am Alive)," will be released on Nov. 13 in India.