B.R. Chopra

Baldev Rai Chopra popularly known by the name of B. R. Chopra was an renowned Hindi filmmaker as well as producer. He had also made small screen daily soaps. Chiefly acknowledged for Hindi social movies such as Naya Daur , Kanoon, Gumrah and Humraz, in addition the grand TV Series, Mahabharat that was aired in the late 1980s. B.R.Chopra bagged Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1998, which is considered as the most prestigious award in Indian film fraternity.

His younger brother Yash Chopra, and son Ravi Chopra and nephew Aditya Chopra are also ace filmmakers of Bollywood. Born and brought up in Ludhiana, B.R. Chopra completed his M.A. in English literature from University of the Punjab in Lahore. He then began his career in 1944 as a movie journalist with Cine Herald, and took over the magazine. After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the director moved to Delhi. When he shifted to Mumbai, he directed his first flick Afsana, which was released in 1951 and starred Ashok Kumar in a double role.

As said, the movie turned out to be a successful hit and since then he made a mark in Bollywood. In 1962, he bagged the Filmfare Best Director Award for Kanoon. In 1998 he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and in 2003 he got the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. B.R. Chopra then directed Chandni Chowk, casting Meena Kumari in the lead character and the movie was released in 1954. In the year 1955, the veteran director formed his own production house, with the name B.R Films. B.R. Chopra died on 5 November 2008, when he was 84 in Mumbai.

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