Navi Mumbai: Actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar, with a film crew, is currently in Matheran where Babbar pulled a hand-rickshaw in the hill station to showcase the plight of people on Saturday as part of a web series shoot. He took a number of rides in hand-pulled rickshaws. On seeing this film shoot, locals started demanding that the e-rickshaw trial commence sooner. Actors Atul Kulkarni, Ayesha Jhulka and director J D Majethia were also present.

The four, with over 200 crew members, are in Matheran since Tuesday. The crew stayed in a heritage bungalow. Raj Babbar pulled a hand-rickshaw at Matheran railway station and other locations and later enjoyed an amusement ride with a few rickshaw pullers.

“As photos of the film crew went viral on social media, we started a drive to support the e-rickshaw campaign to show our plight,” said Shivaji Shinde, a local.

Director J D Majethia said some of the actors declined to take a ride, citing the plight of the handrickshaw pullers, but he added that all workers must have a steady livelihood. “In some places, battery-operated vehicles have replaced hand-pulled ones; so why not in Matheran? However, the beauty of Matheran should be kept intact with battery-operated rickshaws,” said Majethia.

“Senior actors like Raj Babbar have shown the world the locals’ plight. Director J D Majethia also has appealed to the authorities to provide battery-operated rickshaws in the hill station to showcase it to the world,” said activist Sunil Shinde.

Damu Wagh, a hand rickshaw puller, said: “They were taken to Matheran railway station, Charlotte lake, and other places.”

Ambalal Waghela, another rickshaw puller, said, “I had brought Babbar from the parking area of Dasturi Naka to the heritage bungalow on Tuesday.”

Actor and his bride, Sanya, who tied the knot on Jan 23, will host a flapper-themed party on Friday
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 25, 2019)

Mirror (January 8, 2019) was the first to report that after getting engaged last year, on January 22, Prateik Babbar and his writer-director-editor girlfriend, Sanya Sagar, would tie the knot in Lucknow in a two-day ceremony on January 22 and 23. The couple got married in a traditional ceremony on Wednesday, which was preceded by a mehendi and haldi function on Tuesday. The shaadi was followed by a reception for the family.

“It was a great wedding. Prateik is the baby of the house and him getting married is an amazing feeling. God bless Sanya and him,” an excited sister Juuhi told Mirror. Her actor-husband Anup Soni, brother Aarya with wife Jasmine and filmmaker Kishan Babbar with his daughter Kajri were also present on the occasion. Prateik’s actor-politician father Raj Babbar shook a leg to “Bachna Ae Haseeno” with guests. “We all go mad once the music starts playing. It was one of the biggest days in my father’s life. It is rare to see him dance but he did a lot of it at the wedding. He was very happy,” she beams.

Prod her on the newly-wed couple’s honeymoon plans and she informs, “They aren’t going on one at the moment as Prateik is tied up with work but might take up the holiday later. Meanwhile, Prateik is hosting a flapper-themed party on Friday for friends and colleagues from the film frat,” she signs off on a rush.

Salma Agha's daughter, Zara Khan, and Raj Babbar's niece, Kajri, bring a short film on a Punjabi bride's determination to track down the NRI groom who had abandoned her
Dinesh Raheja (MID-DAY; March 25, 2018)

Three-and-a-half decades ago, singer-actress Salma Agha and actor Raj Babbar made waves with the 1982 blockbuster Nikaah; now Babbar's niece Kajri Babbar and Agha's daughter Zara Khan (aka Sasha Agha), have joined forces to make a short film, Khoj, on the subject of young Punjabi brides who are abandoned by their NRI husbands. Khoj is scheduled to open at the Shorts Corner at the Cannes film festival in May 2018, and Zara is excited at the prospect of walking the red carpet.

In the film, however, Khan doesn't sport a glamorous look. The actress says, "I play a 19-year-old from a small village in Punjab who can't speak English properly and is married off to an NRI. Abandoned by her husband, she tracks him down in London. It was difficult for me to relate to my character's way of living and her body language, but her spirit appealed to me. Nothing can break her. And this is something I wish for women of all ages."

Director Kajri Babbar, currently completing her Masters in film direction at Arts University, Bournemouth, UK, speaks on the issue her film tackles with the fervour of youth, "I wanted to tell the world the story of a strong Punjabi woman. During my research, I contacted the NRI wing of Punjab Police and they connected me with women who had been deserted by their husbands. What shocked me was that most of the girls were still in their teens!"

Zara acknowledges the role that her and Kajri's shared family history played in getting them together for this project. "Thanks to mom and Raj uncle's association, we all are very close," she says. When she saw Kajri's first short film, Pardaa (2017), Zara messaged the director expressing her desire to work with her. Kajri responded with the script of Khoj. "We did a reading through Skype and she thought I was perfect for the role. Together, we created Gurpreet Kaur Bedi."

Though mother Salma chided her for letting her "monkey ears" show on screen because of her character's hair-pulled-back look, Zara is all praise for the film's makeup artist Charlotte Annice Spruch for making her character look authentic. Zara's personal contribution was: "long hair that really helped me look like a sardarni."

By agreeing to look her part, Zara won over Kajri who had been sceptical about the actress' willingness to accept the deglamorised part of a pregnant young girl with chapped lips and dark circles under her eyes. Zara reasons, "My job as an actor is to look the part, so paint me red, blue, yellow, or do whatever because when I'm in front of the camera, I submit myself to the director completely. I can look pretty at any given time, but to look real is my kind of beautiful."

Realism enthuses Kajri too. Groomed and raised to be a socially responsible individual, the director believes that her work should convey her convictions. Kajri attributes the fascination for NRI grooms to the belief that "India is still living under a colonial hangover. We believe everything from abroad is better including the food, money, cars, brands, government and even Indian men born on foreign land."

She adds, "In a country like ours, women should stand together and help each other but we hear several horrible cases of mothers-in-law torturing their daughters-in-law or even grandmothers abandoning their granddaughters because they are female. The issue of patriarchy becomes even more complex with the participation of women; and that frustrates me the most. This film was my subtle way of conveying the frustration."

The climax of the 28-minute film offers education as the key to empowerment. But Kajri agrees that the problem needs to be addressed at various levels. She cautions against choosing a life partner in haste and says, "Families should conduct a proper background check on the groom; from the passport to the bank accounts, everything should be verified. And it is crucial for any woman to have legal proof of marriage especially if the man is a citizen of another country."

Zara draws solace from the fact that "Union Minister Kiren Rijju went to the United Kingdom and negotiated an agreement to resolve the issue of Indians abandoning wives and aged parents back home in India." For Zara, Khoj is her chance to set her film career back on track after her debut Aurangzeb failed. Zara smiles, "A YRF film is every actor's dream launch but unfortunately Aurangzeb did not do well and everyone presumed that I was just a pretty face. But whoever has seen Khoj has said, 'Oh we didn't know you were such a good actor!'"


Kajri Babbar

At the Parliamentary discussion on Padmavati, the 30-member panel concluded that a decision regarding the film’s release lies with the CBFC and its chief Prasoon Joshi
Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; December 2, 2017)

Had everything been smooth running, Sanjay Leela Bhansali would have released his period drama, Padmavati on December 1 all over the world. For the last few weeks, various political outfits, fringe bodies and state CMs have been lashing out against the content of the film as perceived by them, which forced the makers to shift their release date expecting high tension around the release.

Bhansali and Prasoon Joshi, the chief of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), were in Delhi on Thursday to meet a Parliamentary panel to discuss the controversy surrounding the film. It was a 30-member panel, spearheaded by Anurag Thakur (former chief of BCCI), which included actor MPs like Paresh Rawal and Raj Babbar, as well as officials from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The meeting is said to have lasted over two hours. When BT reached out to Anurag Thakur, he said, “I am not at liberty to discuss what happened inside the Parliament.” When we asked him if there was an outcome in the offing, he said, “The outcome will be decided by Prasoon Joshi and his committee at the CBFC. Over the next few days, they will decide. You will have to wait for that.”

Apparently, a few members of the panel want the Censor Board to make the final decision on the issue. While some wanted to ban the trailer, others questioned the film’s certification in the United Kingdom. Prasoon has maintained that he hasn’t seen the film yet, while Bhansali insisted that the movie is not based on history but on a poem written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi.

A new release date for the film is yet to be decided. There is talk that the makers may opt for January 12, January 26 or February 14, 2018. We reached out to Paresh Rawal for a comment but were told that he is out of the country. Prasoon Joshi was unavailable at the time of going to press.

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; August 19, 2017)

Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Raj Babbar starrer Libaas, which was helmed by Gulzar, is finally getting a theatrical release, almost 30 years after it was made. Based on the short story Seema penned by the poet-lyricist, the film revolves around extramarital relationship and adultery.

Turns out, the film was not released upon its completion in 1988 as the producer, late Vikas Mohan wanted a different ending to the story. When Gulzar refused to alter the end, Mohan decided to can the film altogether. Now, the late producer’s sons Amul and Anshul Mohan, along with Zee studios, are planning to release the film by the end of the year.

Says Amul, “We’re in the process of locking a release date. We don’t want to clash with a big film, as the essence of Libaas will be lost.”

He further adds that the team intends to promote the film like any other new release. “We are planning a full-fledged marketing campaign, and hope to promote the film with the cast. There has been a huge section of the audience that has waited for this film to release. So, we also want to restore the original print and enhance the print quality when we release the film.”

Libaas was first shown at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Bengaluru in 1992, followed by another screening at the same festival in 2014.

Clockwise: A still from Kaabil; Mom; Prem Granth; Damini and Matrubhoomi

Deepali Singh (DNA; August 5, 2017)

Hindi filmmakers are often trashed for their depiction of women on screen, for making eveteasing acceptable, for not giving women meaty roles, not making female-centric films, degrading women by making them do item songs... The list goes on. It’s time to give them some credit. Something changed when no one was looking. Graphic rape scenes, a staple in Hindi films for over three decades, vanished from our films.

From then to now
There was a time when you saw an unknown actress playing the role of the hero’s sister, you could bet that she would get crudely raped at some point in the film. Such scenes were weaved in the script. For decades, Hindi films have shown scenes or sexual assault with little or no sensitivity. I remember a particularly disturbing rape scene filmed on Shilpa Shirodkar and Anupam Kher in Bhrashtachar on a round revolving bed, shot in slow motion. It was clearly designed to titillate. Unfortunately, many such scenes were filmed for that explicit intention. They were uncomfortably long and graphic, with attention to detail. But such rape scenes slowly (and thankfully) disappeared.

Recall the 1980-film Insaf Ka Tarazu where Raj Babbar rapes Zeenat Aman and later, commits the same crime with her younger sister, played by Padmini Kolhapure? The scenes left nothing to the imagination. A number of films made during the ’80s and ’90s in Bollywood depicted rape sequences in graphic detail. Thankfully, that is where the filmmakers of today’s generation are different, or at least, are trying to be. Cut to 2017. There were two releases with the rape-revenge theme. Kaabil — in which Hrithik Roshan sets out to seek revenge for his wife’s rape. And Mom in which Sridevi seeks to wreck hell on the men who ravaged her daughter. I was reluctant to watch both films because I knew it involved molestation scenes. But I needn’t have worried.

The rape scene
Two men pick up a girl in a red dress as she struggles. Another comes running and lifts her up and she is thrown into the car. A hard punch on the face leaves her stunned. An aerial shot shows the car moving along the deserted streets of Delhi, with only the stray dogs for company. The eerily haunting music that accompanies the shot is enough to give you the chills. After a while, the car stops. The two men in the front exchange seats with the two men at the back. The car is back on the road and so is the music. Nothing is shown, yet the audience knows exactly the nature of the crime taking place inside the moving vehicle. That is how the gang rape scene was shown in Sridevi’s Mom. There was no tearing of the victim’s clothes, flashes of bosom and thighs, or men leering over her. We have come a long way. I came away with respect for the director Ravi Udyawar. Ditto for Kaabil and Sanjay Gupta for filming the dual rape scenes in his film.

Being sensitive
There is no doubt that in recent times, filmmakers have become sensitive to how rape scenes are shot and presented. Even Udta Punjab proved that the filmmaker can get the point across without getting into graphic details to relate the horror of the crime across to the audience. For director Onir, no rape sequence has come across as powerfully as the one in Bandit Queen. “It takes a director of Shekhar Kapur’s intelligence and sensitivity to portray such a powerful scene in Bandit Queen. It really shatters you. In recent times, I think the scene that made an impact was in Udta Punjab, also because of the way Alia Bhatt portrayed it. It was heart-wrenching,” he says. Some of Onir’s films such as Bas Ek Pal and I Am have dealt with the issue of rape, specially male rape, but the filmmaker insists that he would never show it. “I would show as little as possible and go to the before and after of it, not the act itself,” he adds.

Thank the censor board!
Akshaye Rathi, film exhibitor, columnist and entrepreneur, believes that there are multiple reasons for the new found sensitivity. “One, is that you can only show that much. If you try and do more, then there is something called the CBFC, which will chop it off. And rightly so, because rape is a hideous crime and you don’t want to influence young minds by showing anything of that sort. One needs to subtly, yet effectively get the horror across,” he explains.

Along with the changing mindsets of both the filmmakers and the viewers, what has resulted in this outcome, believes Girish Johar, film and trade business analyst, is the social awareness surrounding the crime. “Filmmakers don’t want to highlight the act, but instead focus on the evils of the crime. Titillation is not the agenda anymore,” he says. Rathi makes another interesting point. Storytelling in general has undergone an evolution, so things are bound to change, “Even the mindset of the movie goers has changed. Evolution is the name of the game and that’s how it will be.”

Less skin, more horror
Rajkumar Santoshi’s Damini (1993) was appreciated for the manner in which the filmmaker shot the horrific sequence. As the four men muffled the maid’s mouth, the audience is drawn to the expressions on Meenakshi Sheshadri’s face as she watches the crime take place in front of her eyes. “When I shot Damini, the idea was to let the audience view the scene from Damini’s point of view. I wanted their expressions to be as horrified as Meenakshi’s, as they are trying to feel what she is feeling,” he says. The filmmaker believes that while aesthetics should definitely play its role, the magnitude of the crime also has to reach the viewers. “As a director, I feel there has to be a balance between them. Yes, the audience should appreciate the way it has been shot, but they should also be moved by it. They should feel anger at the act. That is the reason I shot Meenakshi’s close-ups of her horrified expressions or Rekha’s expressions when the crime is being committed in my film Lajja,” he adds.

Director Sanjay Gupta, whose Kaabil received rave reviews, seconds Santoshi’s stand. “I don’t think any of us is interested in showing rape to titillate the audience,” he says. In Gupta’s film, the heroine is raped twice but the actual act is left to audience’s imagination. “My film was not so much about the rape, but about its aftermath. It was not about how she is getting raped, it’s about what happens after that. I don’t think graphic details were needed. It is a horrific act by itself,” he adds.

It seems that as long as the message is getting across, filmmakers want to spare audiences the gory and gruesome details. And thank god for that!

Subhash K Jha (DNA; December 18, 2015)


Recently, a book on Smita by journalist Maithili Rao, was released. While Smita and Raj’s son Prateik attended, along with many prominent admirers and friends of the actress, Raj was conspicuous by his absence.

Earlier this week, the Smita Smriti Puraskar function, an event in Nagpur where unsung heroes are honoured every year, was attended by Smita’s son Prateik, but not his father.

When asked the reason for his absence from the events held in his wife’s memory, Raj said with a laugh, “It’s partly intentional and partly because I am not invited. But I am glad Prateik attends these events. They give him a chance to get to know his mother.”

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 26, 2015)

Her maternal grandmother, Anwar Begum, had acted in Heer Ranjha with her grandfather Jugal Kishore Mehra in 1932 and her mother, Nasreen, with K L Saigal in AR Kardaar's Shahjehan in 1946. But surprisingly, light-eyed beauty Salma Aagha was more interested in a career in singing rather than acting. She was in the recording studio for a song rehearsal with Naushad for Chanakya Aur Chandragupta when producer B R Chopra walked in, took one look at her and said, "Yeh meri Nilofer hai!"

His composer-friend tried telling him that Salma was there as a singer, but Chopra was adamant about casting her as the female lead in his upcoming social-drama, Nikaah, and asked her to meet him the next day. He was a good friend of her grandfather's who had been with All India Radio before he entered films like Chopra, who was a journalist. So she went along and he once again reiterated that she was playing the lead in his film.

"That was it! Without any struggle I had landed my big break and I didn't even realise it then," laughs Salma recalling her entry into Bollywood over three decades later.

She was a complete novice but Chopra was the patient mentor-director, explaining every technical detail minutely to her, and Salma put her heart into her performance. So much so that after one particular scene she was so distraught that she just wouldn't stop crying even after the camera stopped rolling.

"Raj Babbar who played my second husband in the film and who has remained a good friend since, reprimanded me saying, 'Why do you take things to heart? It will make you ill.' But I continued crying," she laughs.

Chanakya Aur Chandragupta never got made but Nikaah, earlier titled Talaq, Talaq, Talaq, based on the Sharia laws of divorce and its misuse, opened in 1982. Made on a modest budget of Rs 19 lakh, it was a superhit.

"It was the story of every second home. I work for two NGOs, I've come across many instances of men messing up and women having to pay for their mistakes," says the film's singer-actress who was an overnight sensation.

Salma points out that many singers since have come up with remixed versions of Dil ke armaan aansoun mein bah gaye, even she is coming up with one with my daughter Sasha.

"But none of these versions have been as successful as the original, not because these singers aren't good but because my voice was unique at the time," she reasons.

She adds that many, including the film's composer Ravi, had tried to dissuade Choprasaab from using her voice, insisting he go in for another playback singer. But he was adamant. He not only got her to sing Dil ke armaan but also another solo, Faza bhi hai jawaan jawaan, a duet with Mahendra Kapoor, Dil ki yeh aarzoo thi koi dilruba mile and Chehra chhupa liya hai kisine hijab mein with Mahendra Kapoor and Asha Bhosle. "Dil ke armaan released before the film and was an instant hit. But I didn't know then that this fairly simple song would be evergreen," she admits.

After the film opened she'd visit theatres incognito to gauge people's reactions. And she was overwhelmed when, as she'd heard, she saw people streaming into the darkened auditorium just before Dil ke armaan came on screen. "When it started playing there would be shower of coins and after it was over, all those who had stepped in for a dekko would go away and the doors would shut quietly," she smiles.

Salma didn't win the Filmfare best actress award despite being nominated but she did return home with the black lady after being adjudged the best playback singer (female) for Dil ke armaan. She admits that with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle also in contention, she didn't think she stood a chance of winning and was happily talking to someone when suddenly she heard her name being announced.

"The auditorium was packed and everyone was looking at me. For a moment my heart stopped beating. Then I stood up and walked to the stage to collect my first Bollywood award," she smiles.

Neha Maheshwri Bhagat & Lakshmi V (BOMBAY TIMES; January 21, 2015)

 
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 24, 2014)

Rannvijay Singha talks about his debut fiction show and his films
Namrata Thakkar (DNA; November 20, 2014)


You were supposed to join the Indian army but destiny had other plans for you. In Pukaar you play an army officer. Has life come full circle for you?
It has…it’s like homecoming for me. My father is still serving in the Indian Army. He is a Lieutenant General and he is serving in Syria. My chacha is a Major General and my younger chacha is Colonel. So it seems like all their desires and wishes have been granted and I am getting to live an army officer’s life, at least, briefly. The fact is that I do know all the nitty gritty that goes into being an army officer and that has helped me in playing this character.

Do you think your family will be most critical about you show?
My family is critical about everything I do. At the same time, none of them is from the industry so they kind of respect all the hard work that I have put in but in this case they might come up with, ‘you know this is not possible’ or ‘aise thodi na hota hai.’ They may say you should have done this or you should have used that language. You know army officers usually speak a lot in English. But the thing is as soon as I start doing that with my character, I will be alienating a lot of people who don’t understand that. So, sometimes when you’re doing a show which is made for entertainment, you need to make sure that people understand what you’re doing or saying. I don’t know if army officers talk like my character Rajveer Shergill does in the show but then that’s only because we want the audience to understand what we are trying to convey. Also, we are not using a lot of lingo which is used in the army as only army personnel will understand that.

Pukaar is an hard-core action show. Did you undergo any training for the same?
The thing is I have always been very active all my life with martial arts and stuff like that. Last year, I did a show called Rann VJ Run where I practiced Parkour and all my Roadies experiences and the life that I led before that thanks to my Dad, has been used here. Also, Vipul sir (Vipul Amrutlal Shah) knows me since London Dreams and Action Repalyy days. He knows my ability to do different things and we have used most of my capabilities in a good way during action sequences. Of course, I did lot of cable practices, martial arts flexibility and also spent some time with Vicky Arora who is a martial art fight choreographer. Few days before the shoot, we would choreograph the fight scenes so that on the day of the shoot it’s less time consuming and easy.

Was it easy for you to play the role of Rajveer Shergill?
Having knowledge about something doesn’t mean it will be easy when you do it. I know how to hit a sixer but in reality to do that it’s tough. You have to put all your knowledge into practice. There are dialogues which are intense. I have a lot of intense scenes with Raj Babbar who is playing my father and even action sequences are tough. Nevertheless, when you do tough things, you feel better, you get a better self satisfaction and you’re happier. But yes it’s tough. It’s actually a very gruelling schedule. If you equate the kind of work we are doing, we are actually shooting 12 films. Twenty four hours of a movie are being shown in one hour episode each. If you put that together then it’s 12 full-fledged two hour movies we are shooting in a span of eight to nine months. That means we are shooting every day back-to-back. It’s very intense but we all are consumed by it so it’s good.

Are the makers planning to take things forward and come up with season 2?
That purely depends on Vipul sir and the channel. But yes they are already hinting at season 2 because we are not going to extend the series like other serials. How we are different from the other daily soaps is that our show will have a definite end. The kind of equipment used on the show, the people involved in the show and the scale at which the series has been shot is all larger-than-life. A lot of movies you see won’t have such production quality and action sequences. If we do it in these 24 episodes, we will achieve what we want and then we can go forward and make another season. But we won’t drag it like a daily soap.

Did you watch action shows to prepare for your role?
There is no picking up cues when you’re already working with a guy who has made films like Commando, Holiday and Force. So in the action genre Vipul sir is a success. What I watch generally are shows like Homeland, Breaking Bad, Modern Family and Prison Break. I like series which are like mini movies because they have great production scale, amazing performance and plot.

Lastly, will you be focusing only on television henceforth or would you be working in films as well?
This is my debut in television fiction. I have never acted on small screen and I was never going to because what you see on Indian television an actor would do it only because it’s a steady source of income and popularity. As actors they were not satisfied. I did Pukaar because firstly we were making it like a huge film. Even the performances are very natural like in a film. Not over the top or dramatic. That’s why I did it. As for films, 3 A.M. released recently and I am doing another film which is releasing on January 16. It’s called Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene with Zayed Khan. As soon as Pukaar finishes, few films are lined up for which I will shoot in March and April. Also, I have done a film with Abbas Tyrewala called Mango which has Swara Bhaskar, Monali Thakur and Chandan Roy Sanyal toh wo bhi release hogi. Movies are happening side by side. There are a few Punjabi films as well but I have asked them to shoot it with someone else or wait a little bit.

Mumbai Mirror Bureau (November 13, 2014)

Pic 1: File photo of Ravi Chopra with his father BR Chopra

Pic 2: The ambulance carrying Chopra's body exits Breach Candy hospital

Pic 3: Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor at the hospital

Pic 4, 5, 6: Arrivals at the Chopras' Juhu home included Aditya Chopra-Rani Mukerji and Ranbir and Katrina Kaif
---------------------------
Ravi Chopra (27 September 1946 - 12 November 2014)

Filmmaker Ravi Chopra passed away on Wednesday afternoon after a long bout of ill health. He was 68.

The director of the iconic TV series Mahabharat and films like Baghban and The Burning Train was admitted to Breach Candy hospital a week ago to seek treatment for a chronic lung ailment.

"He passed away at 3.35 p.m. His funeral will take place today (Thursday) at 11 am at the Pavan Hans crematorium in Juhu," said a source close to the family.

The son of veteran filmmaker B.R Chopra and nephew of Yash Chopra, Ravi started his career as an assistant on the sets of the 1969 crime thriller Ittefaq starring Rajesh Khanna and Nanda.

He learnt under the tutelage of his legendary uncle and father and made his own directorial debut with the Amitabh Bachchan film Zameer. The dacoit drama which mixed revenge and romance was first among the many entertainers that he gave to the public.

Chopra served as an associate producer in some of the best known BR releases of the '80s including Nikaah and Insaaf Ka Taraazu. It was in the same decade that he took the small screen by storm with his adaptation of the Hindu epic Mahabharat. The series which was broadcast between 1988 and 1990, still remains a standard for popularity and famously became a hit in the UK too when BBC telecast it in the '90s.

The next decade again saw Ravi become a family favourite with the 2003 release Baghban, the Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini starrer which preached lessons of family and love. Chopra tried the formula again but with less success in Baabul, which also became his last directorial.

Chopra's last few years were spent in hospitals as a worsened lung infection took its toll and the filmmaker had not been seen in public for a long time.

Aditya Chopra, Rani Mukerji, Hema Malini, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Kapoor and Varun Dhawan were among those who gathered at the Chopras' Juhu home to pay their last respects to the filmmaker.
---------------------------
Hema Malini
The actress worked with the filmmaker on The Burning Train (1980), Baghban (2003) and Baabul (2006)
"He was a beautiful man without any complexities. Even on sets, he was always playful and cracked a joke at the drop of a hat. Working with him was like a dream. My favourite film of his remains Baghban, it was straight from the heart."

Raj Babbar
The actor got his big break in Insaaf Ka Tarazu which was produced by B.R Films "I'm shattered. My parents gave me birth, but the Chopras gave me a name and an identity. I shared a unique relationship with him. How could he pass away? He was health conscious, wouldn't smoke or drink and exercised after work. If that man can be reduced to such bad health, I don't see any purpose in life."

Rati Agnihotri
The actress, who was shooting for a film in Punjab, was devastated when we got in touch with her. She was a close friend of Ravi's, and her role in BR Chopra's Tawaif (1985) earned her critical acclaim.
"Our kids went to the same school ...and we kept in touch. His wife, Renu, is a brave lady and also a dear friend. I will always remember him as a man with a big smile on his face."

Bhushan Kumar
Bhushan Kumar remembers Ravi Chopra as a man who was fond of hot chocolate and fast cars.
"I was deeply attached to him. I stood by the family when nobody else did. Due to several troubles, his banner couldn't produce the films he wanted to make. Which is when I decided to extend support to Bhootnath Returns. I will miss him a lot."


- As told to Ankur Pathak
-------------------------------
MID-DAY (November 13, 2014)

Ravi Chopra, who had been ailing for the last few years, passed away yesterday. He was 68. The filmmaker had been away from the Bollywood scene for quite a while due to his ill- health. Son of late filmmaker BR Chopra and nephew of the late Yash Chopra, he had been diagnosed with a lung ailment. He is survived by his wife, Renu and sons, Kapil and Abhay.

Bollywood remembers him as a warm and genteel person, who, along with his wife, played gracious hosts at his films’ events and parties. Cheerful and affable, he was always willing to lend a helping hand to everyone. Even though he came from a leading film family, his humility was what set him apart from the rest.

Says Simi Garewal, who worked with him in The Burning Train, “He was such a fabulous person. It is sad what he had to go through. He is finally relieved of the pain.” Actor Aman Varma remembers Chopra as “one of the finest human beings” he has ever known. “I did three films, six shows and 10 ad films with him. He would make everyone comfortable. We used to feel that we had come to dine at his place and were working in between.”

Chopra’s directorial debut was Zameer (1975) starring Amitabh Bachchan and Saira Banu. He directed the iconic television serial, Mahabharat, which aired during 1988- 1990. He also directed mythological shows like Vishnu Puran and Ma Shakti. His last B-Town outing as producer-director was Baabul in 2006. The film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji in stellar roles dealt with the issue of widow remarriage.

Like his father, he was keen to highlight social issues on the big screen. His 2003 film Baghban with Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini revolved around the problems faced by aging parents. Post 2006, Chopra produced Bhoothnath and Bhoothnath Returns featuring Big B.