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Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra
Prem Chopra was the third of six children born to Ranbirlal and Rooprani Chopra in Lahore. After the Partition, the family moved to Shimla where the children - five boys and one girl - did their education.
Prem Chopra was the third of six children born to Ranbirlal and Rooprani Chopra in Lahore. After the Partition, the family moved to Shimla where the children — five boys and one girl — did their education.
He had been participating on stage since his college days. Following his success in College plays, Prem Chopra landed in Bombay to try his luck try his luck in Bollywood.
However, getting into films was no easy task. Struggle was the name of the game. So, in order to survive the fast life of Bombay he took up a job with The Times of India while trying to gain his foothold in the Hindi film industry.
During his stint with The Times of India he worked in Punjabi films like Chaudhary Karnail Singh, Sapni and Hindi films such as Woh Kaun Thi, Shaheed, Main Shadi Karne Chala, Teesri Manzil.
Around that time he met Tolaram Jalaram of Filmistan Studios. Bakshi had one look at him and said that if he could somehow give up dreams of becoming a hero and become a villain, he would sweep the market because he was good-looking. This was the time Pran was venturing into mature roles and there was a vacuum for negative characters. He decided to take a chance and agreed to don negative roles. And that worked well for him, indeed very well.
With the success of his films such as Teesri Manzil, Woh Kaun Thi, Do Raaste and Kati Patang, suddenly his negative image became so strong that people`s attitude towards him changed. Be it in brief appearances such as in Bobby, or extensive ones as in Daag, Prem Nagar and Mehbooba, Prem Chopra never failed to leave his mark.
The ‘70s saw Amitabh Bachchan replacing Rajesh Khanna as the king. But Prem Chopra remained just there, sharing the limelight with Amitabh Bachchan in Kala Pathar, Do Anjaane, The Great Gambler and Trishul, amongst other films.
While he worked with Dharmendra in numerous films, he has acted along side Sunny Deol in Betaab, Arjun, Manzil Manzil amongst other films. Both father Manoj Kumar (Kranti) and son Kunal (Ricky) had to contend with the same baddie Prem Chopra.
In his life outside films he gained the respect of one and all and became someone people loved to love. This `villain` has a tender streak in him that those close to him are aware of. He has raised funds for many noble causes such as building hospitals, schools, temples and needy cine artistes.
Bureau Report
He had been participating on stage since his college days. Following his success in College plays, Prem Chopra landed in Bombay to try his luck try his luck in Bollywood.
However, getting into films was no easy task. Struggle was the name of the game. So, in order to survive the fast life of Bombay he took up a job with The Times of India while trying to gain his foothold in the Hindi film industry.
During his stint with The Times of India he worked in Punjabi films like Chaudhary Karnail Singh, Sapni and Hindi films such as Woh Kaun Thi, Shaheed, Main Shadi Karne Chala, Teesri Manzil.
Around that time he met Tolaram Jalaram of Filmistan Studios. Bakshi had one look at him and said that if he could somehow give up dreams of becoming a hero and become a villain, he would sweep the market because he was good-looking. This was the time Pran was venturing into mature roles and there was a vacuum for negative characters. He decided to take a chance and agreed to don negative roles. And that worked well for him, indeed very well.
With the success of his films such as Teesri Manzil, Woh Kaun Thi, Do Raaste and Kati Patang, suddenly his negative image became so strong that people`s attitude towards him changed. Be it in brief appearances such as in Bobby, or extensive ones as in Daag, Prem Nagar and Mehbooba, Prem Chopra never failed to leave his mark.
The ‘70s saw Amitabh Bachchan replacing Rajesh Khanna as the king. But Prem Chopra remained just there, sharing the limelight with Amitabh Bachchan in Kala Pathar, Do Anjaane, The Great Gambler and Trishul, amongst other films.
While he worked with Dharmendra in numerous films, he has acted along side Sunny Deol in Betaab, Arjun, Manzil Manzil amongst other films. Both father Manoj Kumar (Kranti) and son Kunal (Ricky) had to contend with the same baddie Prem Chopra.
In his life outside films he gained the respect of one and all and became someone people loved to love. This `villain` has a tender streak in him that those close to him are aware of. He has raised funds for many noble causes such as building hospitals, schools, temples and needy cine artistes.
Bureau Report