“One of India’s most influential filmmakers, Yash Chopra, has died from dengue fever in Mumbai, aged 80,” reported the BBC on Sunday, following up with Rajini Vaidyanathan‘s video overview of the career. In another story today, the BBC notes that authorities are trying to determine whether or not the cause really was dengue fever. Regardless: “Over five decades, Chopra, dubbed the King of Romance, gave Bollywood some of its biggest blockbusters. His film studios Yash Raj Films helped establish some of Indian cinema’s biggest names, including Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.”
“His death came just weeks before his much anticipated new release, Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) was due to hit the big screen,” writes Irna Qureshi. “Yash Chopra may have been one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema, yet he will always be remembered as his country’s king of celluloid romance. During a career of 53 years he launched some of Indian cinema’s most iconic and commercially successful films. Smash hits such as Waqt (1965), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Silsila (1981), Lamhe (1991) and Veer-Zaara (2004) captured the essence of Yash Chopra’s sensibility—a highly-stylized presentation of the emotional dilemmas of the super-rich. If Yash Chopra’s heroes were handsome fighter pilots or brooding poets, then his heroines were magnificently groomed in their chiffon saris. And when love was declared, usually in a song and dance sequence, it was done in a suitably scenic setting—amid the snow-capped Swiss Alps, in the tulip fields of Holland or on the rolling hills of the Lake District.”
Also in the Guardian, Nirpal Dhaliwal posts a collection of clips. Bollywood Hungama runs excerpts from Subhash K. Jha‘s conversations with Yash Chopra over the years, and the Times of India has opened up a special section on the legendary Bollywood filmmaker.
The 43rd International Film Festival of India (November 20 through 30) will pay special homage to Yash Chopra, reports India Today, noting, too, that Shah Rukh Khan has posted a tribute.
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