'King of romance' Yash Chopra cremated

Legendary filmmaker, Yash Chopra, also known as the ‘king of romance’, who succumbed to dengue and multiple organ failure on Sunday evening, embarked upon his final journey.

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: Legendary filmmaker, Yash Chopra, also known as the ‘king of romance’, who succumbed to dengue and multiple organ failure on Sunday evening, has been cremated. The thespian had turned 80 on September 27 this year and was busy preparing for the release of his last directorial venture ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. The filmmaker's body, covered with white flowers had been kept on stage number 3 of the Yash Raj Films studio since morning for people to come and pay homage. A huge black and white photo of the director was also there with several candles lit around it. Son Aditya, Uday and actress Rani Mukerji were seen standing in front of the stage with moist eyes, while the family members and those from film fraternity were seen sitting behind. A string of celebrities were seen entering the studio from both the front and back gates, guarded by policemen and security personnel owing to the large number of fans that had gathered outside. Among biggies who turned up at the studio included Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Shahrukh Khan, Vidya Balan, Shahid with father Pankaj Kapoor and mother Supriya Pathak, Parineeti Chopra, Sridevi with husband Boney Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Kajol with mother Tanuja and sister Tannisha, Tabu, Kabir Khan with wife Mini, Prem Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vipul Shah, Abbas Mastan, Ramesh Sippy, Gulzar, Subhash Ghai, Shyam Benegal, Saroj Khan, David Dhawan, Resul Pukkotty, Imran Khan and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, son Ranbir, Randhir Kapoor, Archana Puran Singh and husband Parmeet Sethi, Punit Malhotra and Varun Dhawan were also seen offering tributes to the 'King of Romance'. Chopra's body was brought yesterday from Lilavati hospital to his residence in Juhu and then taken to the YRF studio of which he is the founder. His last public appearance was at Amitabh Bachchan's 70th birthday bash on October 11 with wife Pamela. Last night, a host of celebrities including Salman Khan, John Abraham, Manish Malhotra, Priyanka Chopra, Sonu Nigam, Amitabh Bachchan with son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai visited the studio. Chopra, who gave several memorable films to Indian cinema like 'Waqt', 'Deewar', 'Silsila','Dil Toh Pagal Hai', 'Veer Zaara', announced that he was retiring from direction in a conversation with Shah Rukh on 27 September, his 80th birthday. The director had said that 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan', starring SRK, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, was his last film as a director. The film is slated to release on November 13. A song from the film was to be shot in Switzerland on a grand level but after Chopra was hospitalised, the trip to Switzerland with the lead actors had to be cancelled. Chopra also talked about his journey in cinema at the Yash Raj Studios on his birthday. Born on September 27, 1932 in Lahore, he was the youngest of eight children, one of whom was elder brother B R Chopra who became a director and producer. He came to Mumbai with Rs 200 in his pocket and his mother's blessings to make a mark in films. Chopra started his journey in the film industry as an assistant to I S Johar and then with his brother. With his brother's production house he made his directorial debut in 1959 with 'Dhool Ka Phool' and directed iconic films like 'Dharamputra', 'Waqt' and 'Ittefaq'. In 1973, he set up his own production company Yash Raj Films under which he made 'Daag'. Then he went on to make intense and action packed films like 'Deewar', 'Trishul', 'Kaala Patthar', 'Mashaal', 'Vijay'. The filmmaker was among the first to have an ensemble cast in his films. Known for making larger than life multi-starrer films, Yash Chopra had been instrumental in shaping the careers of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. ‘Waqt’, ‘Daag’, ‘Kabhi Kabhie’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Silsila’, ‘Chandni’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Darr’, ‘Veer Zaara’ are some of his works that created ripples in the industry. With the demise of Chopra, an era has come to an end- those times that glorified the beauty of Kashmir, the peaks of Switzerland and the rustic landscape of Punjab. (With PTI inputs)