B. R. Chopra Biography: Baldev Raj Chopra (also known as B.R. Chopra), one of the most esteemed cinema personalities in India, was the architect of what is now known as the golden age of Bollywood. Waqt (1965) and Naya Daur (1957) are among the offbeat tales he transformed into timeless masterpieces, earning him a high standing in the international film community. The 1988 film Mahabharata by BR Chopra was nominated for several Uptron awards. Pankaj Dheer defeated Arun Govil and others in this category to win the Uptron Award for Best Actor. Mukesh Khanna was voted Best Supporting Actor by the public. Nitish Bharadwaj defeated Sunil Lahri and others to claim the award for Best Supporting Actor.
B. R. Chopra Biography
Early Years
B.R. Chopra was born in Lahore in 1914 to a British Punjab administration PWD administration accountant. He earned his Master of Arts in English Literature from Lahore University after graduating. Surprising his family, he switched from higher education to film journalism due to a deep-seated interest in films. He began his career in celluloid by composing and editing film reviews for the journal Cine Herald.
When India was partitioned in 1947, B.R. became a victim of communal violence. His home having been destroyed by fire, he moved to Bombay to pursue his ambitions. He produced his first film, Karwat (1949), in 1949. Sadly, it turned out to be a failure. In 1951, he attempted again as the producer and director of the film Afsana (1951) and was rewarded with success. His film, a tale of mistaken identity starring Ashok Kumar in a dual role, was a tremendous success and celebrated its 25th anniversary.
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Career
Encouraged by this success, B.R. established his production company, B.R. Films, in 1955 and hit the ground running with the 1956 release of the widow remarriage drama Ek-Hi-Rasta. The most notable of his successful films were Naya Daur (1957), Sadhna (1958), Kanoon (1960), Gumrah (1963), and Hamraaz (1967). Yash Chopra made four more films for B.R., including Waqt (1965) and Ittefaq (1969).
B.R. has always attempted to create films that are socially pertinent while also appealing to popular sentiment. For example, Naya Daur (1957) depicted a traditional rural community threatened by modernism and mechanism; B.R. views mechanism as evil and has the protagonist, a horse-drawn carriage driver, vanquish an automobile in a race! Kanoon (1960) was a courtroom drama without any songs (music being essential to all Hindi films, this was a novel technique); _Gumrah (1963)_qv told the story of a woman resuming her affair after marriage; and _Ittefaq (1969)_qv depicted the heroine as a woman who murdered her own husband!
B.R. continued to create films throughout the 1970s and 1980s, achieving success with the rape-themed Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980) and the Muslim love triangle Nikaah (1982). Aside from Aaj Ki Awaz (1984), another courtroom drama, and the family epic Baghban (2003), none of his son Ravi’s efforts to keep the studio afloat were successful. However, in 1985 B.R. Films shifted its focus to television and produced several successful programmes, the most successful of which was the Hindu epic-inspired serial Mahabharat (1988). It entered the Guinness Book of World Records with a 96% world viewership, making it arguably the most popular Indian television series in history. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was given to B.R. in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
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Baldev Raj Chopra Awards
In 2001, the Government of India awarded BR Chopra the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in the Republic of India. He’s won three National Film Awards. His film Kanoon received the Certificate of Merit for Best Hindi Feature Film in 1960. As the film’s producer, he was awarded the President’s Silver Medal for Best Hindi Feature Film in 1961. He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1998 for his contributions to Indian cinema. Two Filmfare awards have been bestowed upon him: the Filmfare Best Director Award in 1962 for the film Kanoon, and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 for his exceptional contributions to Indian cinema. In 2008, he received the Phalke Ratna Award from the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy. In 1998, he received the Kalakar Award for Lifetime Achievement in Bollywood.
Baldev Raj Chopra’s Personal Life
BR Chopra was married to Prakash Chopra, and the couple had three children: Ravi Chopra, Shashi Chopra, and Neena Chopra. Shashi is married to filmmaker Raj Tilak. BR Chopra belongs to the Chopra-Johar family. His brother, Yash Chopra, is a Bollywood director and producer, and his sister, Hiroo Johar, is married to Yash Johar, a Bollywood film producer and also producer. His nephews Aditya Chopra, Uday Chopra, and Karan Johar are also notable Bollywood figures.
Reason for Baldev Raj Chopra’s Death
The director was ailing for a long time and died on November 5, 2008, from a protracted illness. He passes away at his suburban Juhu home at the age of 94, surrounded by his family and acquaintances.