Although she was my maternal cousin, Pamela [Chopra] was like my own sister. We shared rooms when she visited us four to five months in a year. It was as if my mother [Darshi Garewal] had adopted her as the third daughter. Pam was a movie buff who knew more about cinema than I did. She taught me Bharatnatyam. She was a warm, vibrant, creative, and charming person who would [often] accompany me on shoots.

I took her to B R Chopra’s daughter’s wedding, where Yash and she met for the first time. She [felt] that he was paying more attention to Hema Malini, but I had caught Yash sneaking a glance at Pam several times. A few months later, B R Chopra and his wife [met] my mother [for a marriage alliance] between Yash and Pam. Her father, Mohinder Singh, who was in the army, was initially hesitant as the Chopras were wealthy [in comparison]. But my mother assured that she would take care of everything. She took care of her like her own daughter.

Strangely, after her marriage with Yash, she started distancing herself from us, which hurt all of us deeply as we couldn’t understand what happened. Though we would go for Aditya [Chopra] and Uday’s [Chopra] birthdays, which eventually stopped. When [we met at] Yash ji’s funeral, Pam was warm. We never got a chance to find out what happened, [even when] we spoke, laughed, and joked around. We never dove into what happened.

Pamela was Yash ji’s muse, friend, philosopher, and the guiding light of Yash Raj Films in the initial years of their marriage. She was a creative force, musically inclined and his sounding board. She later became busy with the family. Pamela was the gentle, positive, practical influence in Yash ji and their children’s lives. She ensured that they were grounded, balanced, and well-mannered. Pamela was the bedrock of their family.

As told to Upala KBR