Feb 17, 2023
By: Srishti Magan
Credit: Wikipedia
Netflix released its four-part docuseries The Romantics on February 14, 2023. It chronicles the life of the veteran director, the late Yash Chopra, and his production house, Yash Raj Films. Much like Chopra’s movies, the series offers a heartfelt though glossy look at the story of Indian cinema and one of the country’s biggest production houses.
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After directing five films under his elder brother’s banner BR Films, Yash Chopra set up his own production house - Yash Raj Films (YRF) in 1970. The first film under the YRF banner was the 1973 drama Daag. It was a super hit.
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Among YRF’s many hits lies Sridevi-starrer Chandni which brought back romance in an era dominated by Bollywood’s angry, young man and his violent struggles. The film was also known for Sridevi’s all-white clothing - which the star found “dull” at the time of the shoot.
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The Romantics features Bollywood’s three Khans - Aamir, Shah Rukh, and Salman. But that isn’t its greatest feat. Director Smriti Mundhra has managed to persuade the famously reclusive current YRF Chairman, Aditya Chopra (Adi) to give an elaborate interview in the series.
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Despite several hits under his belt, filmmaker Aditya Chopra famously remains away from the camera - he doesn’t even promote his films. He attended the Filmfare award show only once, after the release of his debut film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) — he didn’t want to create for the awards or validation, but for himself.
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The documentary revealed that ever since he was a kid, Aditya Chopra predicted box office collections of movies, along with notable awards they may win - which he’d later compare with the actual results. To date, he also watches all movies in theatres to see what the audience reacts to - and learns from that.
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Shah Rukh Khan was watching Yash Chopra’s Lamhe when he got the call for Darr, on which Aditya Chopra worked as an assistant director. After Khan talked about how stammering occurs because a sound gets stuck in a person’s mind, Aditya Chopra suggested he stammer the name of the leading lady, Kiran in the film Darr.
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DDLJ went on to win 10 Filmfare Awards–highest at the time for any film–and turned SRK into an overnight superstar. SRK was convinced he was meant for action, not romance. While Aditya Chopra reached out to him for weeks, Yash Chopra told him “Your eyes have something that can’t be just wasted on action”.
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Aditya Chopra wrote Dhoom to break the “three pillars of Bollywood” - romance, drama, and emotion and create a non-Yash-Raj film. An unexpected hit, the film made biking mainstream and launched John Abraham into stardom. Abraham described himself as a motorcyclist turned accidental actor.
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Writer Jaideep Sahni read an incredibly well-written but extremely short news article on the national women's hockey team. Shocked at the limited coverage, he dug deeper into their story to make a documentary - but fell short of sponsors. When he recounted the story to Aditya Chopra, he agreed to back the film.
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Most of the filmmakers, writers, and actors who appeared on the show shared that they despised the name Bollywood - because it excluded non-Hindi cinema and had derogatory origins (considered the ‘poorer’ version of Hollywood).
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Director Karan Johar remarked this about Yash Raj, who passed away on October 21, 2012 - days before the release of his swan song, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. During a promotional interview for the film, Chopra had admitted to SRK (the lead actor in the film) that he’d never direct again.
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