Yash Chopra – Jab Tak Hai Jaan, you will be remembered…

Resham Sengar

He was a man who redefined the meaning of love by way of his movies. He was a man who made a million hearts flutter when he directed Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta in the cult classic ‘Veer-Zaara’, and the sensational moves of his chiffon saree clad heroines who danced with their men on the Alps. He is none other than Yash Chopra, who bid farewell to the world on October 21, 2012 but only after etching his ever lasting memories on the hearts of his audience, folks and fans.


Born in Lahore, British India, Yash Chopra started off in the show business as an assistant director to IS Johar and his elder brother, BR Chopra. Then after, he flagged off his directorial work with ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ in 1959, a melodrama about illegitimacy and which was followed by the hard-hitting social drama ‘Dharmputra’ in 1961. It was Chopra who established the concept of multi-starrers in Bollywood by making ‘Waqt’ in 1965.


After that, he delivered a string of hit films like ‘Daag’, ‘Silsila’, ‘Deewar’, ‘Trishul’, Mashaal’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Chandni’, ‘Dil to Pagal Hai’ and the list goes on. Clearly, a romance oriented script replete with European locations and ample melodic numbers made an ideal Yash Chopra film.

Yash Chopra`s career has spanned over five decades and in that time he has successfully worked on over 50 films. From six National Film Awards, eleven Filmfare awards, a Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan, Yash Chopra was honoured generously for the excellent work in the realm of movie making.

But the list of his awards and achievements did not end there. BAFTA too presented him with a lifetime membership for his contribution to the films, making him the first Indian to receive the honour in the 59-year history of the academy.

His last directorial venture ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ could not see light of the day till he was alive. Still, hope remains alive in the heart of every avid YRF fan that the tradition of delivering high-quality cinema will never cease to exist at least jab tak hai jaan…