In a testament to their partnership over the years, superstar Amitabh Bachchan has been conferred with the second Yash Chopra Memorial Award.
Bachchan, 72, and Chopra, an ace filmmaker, had a string of blockbusters right from their first collaboration in Deewar, and with movies such as Kabhie Kabhie, Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Silsila, Mohabbatein and Veer Zaara.
The actor said the Jab Tak Hai Jaan director and him shared a close relationship.
“With Yashji I had a family relationship and I believe that I still have that. I always felt that he is not only a great filmmaker but also an elder brother to me.
“The other members of his family too treat me like [I am one of them] and for that I just can’t only give credit to Yashji — Pamelaji [Chopra’s wife] too was instrumental in this,” Bachchan said after receiving the honour.
The Yash Chopra Memorial Award is instituted by the TSR Foundation of T Subbarami Reddy in memory of the producer-director who died in 2012.
Reflecting on the beginning of their partnership, Bachchan said he was supposed to work in a romantic film with Chopra when Deewar’s script came to him.
“I started my work with Yashji on a small romantic story, which he was producing and someone else was directing. After 10-12 days, [scriptwriters] Salim-Javed came to me with the script of Deewar and I liked it instantly.
“Salim-Javed wanted Yashji to direct it. I requested Yashji to listen to the script. And when he heard the story of Deewar, he immediately said, ‘yes’. So, we immediately started working on Deewar,” Bachchan said.
The veteran actor recalled how Chopra started his journey in the industry from a single room studio.
“Yashji used to work with his elder brother B R Chopra. He started off with a small room at Rajkamal studio and now Yash Raj studio is one of the well known production houses and this job was not an easy thing to do,” he said.
Bachchan also commented on how Chopra’s films reflected everyday life.
“If you watch an Yash Chopra film you will realise that every film [of his] is very relatable with real life. His films were full of life’s aesthetic values,” he said.
Bachchan is the second recipient of the award, which was first conferred to singer Lata Mangeshkar last year.
