BOLLYWOOD filmmaker Baldev Raj Chopra, better known as BR Chopra died today at his residence in Mumbai following prolonged illness. He was 94.
Mr Chopra was best known as the producer of films like Naya Daur (1957) and The Burning Train (1980).
He also produced a successful TV serial Mahabharata, based on the Indian epic, in the late 1980s.
Mr Chopra won the Dadasaheb Phalke award, the highest honour in Indian cinema presented by the government.
Born in Punjab in undivided India, Mr Chopra studied at the Lahore university. After partition, he migrated to Delhi.
Settling down in Mumbai to pursue a career in filmmaking, Mr Chopra set up a production house and produced over 30 films.
He became a household name with such films as Naya Daur (1957), Humraz (1967) and Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980).
In 1949, he produced his first film ‘Karwat’, which unfortunately turned out to be a flop.
In 1951, he tried his luck again as producer and director of film ‘Afsana’ which became a mega hit at the box office. The movie, a tale of mistaken identity with Ashok Kumar in double role, went for a silver jubilee run.
In 1955, B R formed his own production house ‘B R Films’. His first movie for this production house was highly successful ‘Naya Daur’.
Encouraged by this success, B R started off on a roll with the release of Ek Hi Raasta (1956), a drama about widow remarriage and then churned out a string of successful films, the most notable being Naya Daur (1957), Sadhana (1958), Kanoon (1960), Gumrah (1963) and Humraaz (1967).
He also gave his younger brother Yash Chopra, his first directorial opportunity with the box-office hit Dhool Ka Phool (1959) and in the subsequent years Yash made four more films, including Waqt (1965) and Ittefaq (1969).
B R was instrumental in developing the career of singer Mahendra Kapoor and utilised him in most of his movies.
B R continued to make films in 1970s and 1980s, and met success with Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980) focusing on the issue of rape, and Nikaah (1982), a Muslim love triangle.
His son Ravi did try to keep the banner going but none of the films did well except for Aaj Ki Awaz (1984), another courtroom tale, and a family drama Baghban (2003).
He is survived by his son, Ravi Chopra – also a filmmaker – and two daughters.