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Yash sir
What is it about Yash Chopra the director that has seen him last 50 meaningful years, nurture a new generation of directors, and stay abreast of them? Shashi Baliga examines...
Director Kabir Khan remembers with some sheepishness the enthusiasm with which he showed Yash Chopra the script for his Kabul Express, a spare, taut film set in the badlands of Afghanistan. “There I was,” he says, “discussing the script with Yashji (as everyone calls the veteran), convinced I was making a cutting-edge film because it had no songs and dances. When he casually mentioned that he had made a film too, called Ittefaq, which had no songs — some 30 years ago in 1969.”
The next time Khan went to Chopra with a script was for his last movie, New York. “Yashji instantly pinpointed the flab in the script and picked out the scenes I could cut. I did so — because he was absolutely right,” he recalls.
On the day before New York opened, however, Khan had a bad case of pre-release jitters. Till his 77-year-old producer told him gently, “Beta (son), whatever the box-office fate of New York, I want you to know I am proud to put my name to your film.”
It is a moment 38-year-old Khan says will stay with him all his life.
Almost everyone who has interacted with the legendary director has a Yash Chopra moment (I’ll save mine for the end). Also, anyone under 50 gets used to being called “beta”.
THe ustad who isn’t
What is it about Yash Chopra the director that has seen him last 50 meaningful years, nurture a new generation of directors, and stay abreast of them? Writer Javed Akhtar 64, who has worked with him on films such as Deewaar and Kaala Patthar, believes it has everything to do with Yash Chopra the person. “Here is a man who, in spite of all his success,” says Akhtar, “doesn’t behave like an ustad (maestro). He has the humility not only to listen to ideas but incorporate them in his work.”
Shimit Amin, director of the acclaimed Chak De! India and Rocket Singh, agrees: “He is an incredible listener. And so concise with what he has to say. He may make just two points, but they will be crucial. And they’ll be made with such a lack of braggadocio, you have to remind yourself, ‘Oh my god, this is the man who’s made all those great movies.’ ”
“He is so democratic, he always shares his views,” says Khan. “For instance, he suggested some changes in New York when it was complete, but I disagreed. All he said was, ‘Beta, it’s your film, do what you believe in.’ ”
That kind of grace could only come from a director who has often walked alone. Says Akhtar, “He is a film-maker of very deep conviction who has never compromised on his basic cinematic values — dignity, literary value and a sense of aesthetics.” Akhtar harks back to the time when Chopra’s career hit a low during the abominably tacky days of Sarkailo khatiya and Choli ke peeche: “Many self-respecting directors got carried away by that wave. But not Yashji. He preferred to be marginalised rather than succumb.”
Adds Khan, “At Yash Raj Films (the production house established by Chopra and his elder son Aditya), they go to the extent of telling you, ‘Don’t feel the pressure of commercial considerations; just follow your vision.’ ”
That kind of freedom is near-fantasy for most directors who are dependent on outside finance and rapacious producers. Industry talk has always had it that the Chopras don’t pay actors their market price or allow starry extravagance. But their directors and technicians rarely complain.
Ravi K. Chandran, the much-in-demand DoP (director of photography), who has worked on films such as Black and Dil Chahta Hai, reveals, “I’ve been paid the most by Yash Raj (for Fanaa and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi). They also give you the best equipment and space in which to perform. Once you work with them, it’s difficult to work with others.”
Chandran offers an anecdote that should dilute talk of Chopra’s tight- fistedness: “On the sets of Rab Ne… one day, my team carried off an extremely difficult trolley shot in a long, tricky scene. Yashji first complimented all of us profusely, then announced an on-the-spot bonus of Rs 5,000 each for all the technicians involved. That’s the kind of man he is.”
Explains Khan, “Yash Raj has a simple mantra — money spent should show on the screen; it should not be used for fluff off the screen. That’s why a Rs 25 crore film from Yash Raj looks like a
Rs 40 crore film while the reverse is true for many other producers.”
Stealth strategy
It is this single-minded focus that has made Yash Raj the Hindi film industry’s most successful production house ever, with production, distribution, music, DVD and publicity divisions. The state-of-the-art studio, commissioned in October 2005, is rented out to other producers and on January 1, they launch their TV channel.
Valuation is difficult since the company is privately held but trade analyst Amod Mehra pegs the figure around Rs 1,000 crore. He adds, though, “Their reputation can’t be measured in rupees. It doesn’t take money, it takes people completely dedicated to cinema to achieve such a standing.”
The driving force behind that success has worked completely in the shadows. Aditya Chopra, 38, protects his privacy so ferociously that he gives no interviews, attends no award functions and allows no photographs of himself. His stealth strategy is so successful that even the film paparazzi have got nowhere with him. His movies come and go without a single public utterance from him; a public sighting is unthinkable, of course. (One film refuses to go, though; Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is still running 740 weeks after its release.)
The younger Chopra however is no Howard Hughes inside his fortress, he is hands-on involved in every project, and it is a truth universally acknowledged that he is the brain behind the YRF studio.
The heart belongs to Yash Chopra, though. The studio, built to compare with the best in the world, was a gift from a delighted father after the success of Dilwale… Aditya wanted nothing but the best and Yash was ready to give it to him; it was more of an emotional decision than a business one for the father. The veteran film-maker also did it for his peers: “When I started shooting, we didn’t even have a decent common bathroom. So I wanted to give my producers everything I couldn’t get.”
While Chopra’s second son Uday, 36, who prefers to act and gets handed major roles in films such as Mohabbatein and Dhoom 2, has produced the odd film, it is Aditya who has consolidated the empire with spectacular success.
This is a family that works together and Yash and Aditya, who have a perfect professional understanding, have arrived at a remarkable arrangement — when one directs, the other moves backstage to clear the creative path.
How does such an incredibly accomplished and successful director take a backseat on a set? Perhaps my own Yash Chopra moment will illustrate. It came some years ago at his home when we were shooting a quick audio-visual for an awards night. “Where would you like me to sit?” he asked, polite as ever. “You decide, of course, Yashji,” I replied, “you know this location well.”
“No, no,” he protested, “you are the director of this film.” I laughed — only to discover that he was entirely serious. It was Yash Chopra’s way of respecting another professional’s space. And just one of the many qualities that separates this grand old man from the boys.
