Watching the documentary made in 2023 on the life & legacy of the Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra. Created by Smriti Mundhra. Written by Mundra with Michael T Vollmann. With lot of footage from various films & interviews with the stars it is entertaining.
Smriti Mundhra is the director of ‘A Suitable girl’ & ‘Indian Matchmaking’. She shot this docu over a span of three years.It interviews 35 stars of Bollywood. With Salim Javed, Sooraj Barjatya, Amitabh Bachchan to name a few.
For a movie buff like me it was a treat. Yeh Dil Mange more. Focussing every episode on a different title it delved into the boy from Jalandhar, The Prodigal son, The New Guard Legacy. It traces the rise of Yashji, nepotism, new wave of films, the action genre & finally the building up of a world class studio.
Breaking free of his elder brother, the younger brother stepped in the world of Hindi cinema with dreams in his heart. He had his wife to back him. Finding finances to back his dream. He flourished with selling beautiful dreams to his audience.
Switzerland is forever grateful to the great man. Maintaining good relations with his crew & cast. He slumped after his failures. ‘Lamhe’ was a film he loved with his heart but the audience shunned it. The young girl in awe of a 40 something man was unacceptable.
The last film with Shahrukh & Katrina ‘Jab Tak Hain Jaan’ was a hit. But he passed away a happy man before it released. He saw his son, Aditya make a name for himself. Giving hits like ‘Dhoom’, ‘Bunty & Babli’ with the unforgettable ‘Chak De India’.
Uday , his younger son dabbled with a few films, all hits. But was never successful as an actor. He changed to becoming a producer for Hollywood films.
Aditya’s ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ became a cult film. The stars became a household name overnight. Maratha Mandir still runs the movie. He married Rani Mukherji & has a daughter.
Rani recalls she had been signed for a film ‘Dulhan’ which never saw the light of the day but she did become a real dulhan!
Aditya also saw a slump with ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge or his ‘Fikre’ did not do well as he had imagined. But he backed his assistant director with ‘Jor Laga Ke Haisha’ which was good. The lead pair was appreciated & so was the film.
Experimentation, updation has led Yash Raj films to lead from the front!
Asian Entertainment 