When I sat down to watch The Romantics – a docuseries on the Yash Chopra Films, a walk down memory lane and Bollywood style romance, I expected a bit of nostalgia, a lot of Yash Chopra, Bollywood revisited, a sprinkling of the Chopra clan, of whom, honestly, I didn’t know much, and a whole lot of romance, song, dance and some reflections. What I got, was a mega nostalgic hit of DDLJ and a crash course on how to step into your father’s very large shoes without actually, treading on them – all this from the director of DDLJ and the son of Yash Chopra – Aditya Chopra!
I have to say, despite all my love for Yash Chopra’s spectacular, heart warming, romantic, feel good cinema, it was actually Aditya Chopra’s take on his dad’s super star persona, his ability to crawl from right underneath it and grow beyond his shadow, and be able to stand proud and tall without it, that really, really impressed me and took my breath away!
Aditya Chopra’s father, Yash Chopra has delivered block busters upon blockbusters, to name a few, Deewar in 1975, Kabhi Kabhi in 1976, Silsila in 1981, Chandni in 1989, Darr in 1993, to name a few.
And I thought to myself, this is how you do it right! For every young person who has grown up around an imposing, larger than life father figure, it is a tough bargain to meet the expectations of the world and be the person the world wants you to be, and to fulfil your own dreams in the process, because … whatever you do, you will always fall short, so why try?
But Aditya Chopra did all that, he didn’t fall short, and he did it in his own way, forged his own path, wrote his own story and that’s why I write.
I felt, after my father, people were expecting me to step into his shoes. But by nature, I’m a very different person to my father. I haven’t cultivated those social skills. I’ll have to work harder at myself. It’s his way of telling me, I’m going to make sure, you go out there. I feel this is something he wants me to do, I’m telling him I’ll get there!
Aditya Chopra
Here’s 5 things I learnt from this seemingly obscure individual who has an eye for detail and a heart for wanting the best from all his endeavours.
1. Aditya never tried to be his dad
Aditya Chopra was not the kind who just did things without a formula. Where Yash Chopra, the legendary director, ruled with his heart, Aditya ruled with his mind. The senior Chopra would welcome everyone on the sets, have a chat, a laugh, be relaxed and yet, get the job done. Aditya chose to be more clinical in his approach. He would have the script right down to the final dialogue, he wanted his actors to perform to the tee and he was intense, concentrated, fully engaged in the scene. He might not even notice if a fellow actor dropped by on the set, or even ask him, why he came.
Aditya did not feel the need to play his father’s role, he was okay being himself.
2. His passion took him places & changed the face of Indian Cinema
Where the father thought of the next film, Aditya thought of the entire Film Industry. His quest for a full fledged studio was just that. When DDLJ became a superhit, he asked his father that as a celebration, he wants to build a studio location where films could be made in a well equipped, studio setting – Yash Raj Films was the brainchild that father & son set their minds to and created together.
It has to be said here, that there is a great difference in merely asking your larger than life, successful and commercially viable dad to launch your filmmaking career and having a vision to take it places – Aditya had just that vision. He wanted to take it places, from merely a company that sold romance, song and dance, to one that initiated action movies, thrillers and more.
The Dhoom series (2004) was just this very forging of new pathways, and though risky, though new, Aditya’s gut instinct told him that the Indian film industry needed to step away from the romance formula once in a while and hence, he gave the world Dhoom 1, 2 and 3 – a super success and brand new Bollywood formula.
3. He proved himself before taking the leap
Where many offspring of super successful parents wait for the parent to set them up, Aditya first proved himself. He tried his hand at Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in 1995, did things differently from his dad on the sets, and still made it a super duper hit! One remarkable instance (much to his father’s distress probably) was making Kajol wear a silk sari that did not flutter in the breeze like Yash Chopra’s signature chiffons, and only when his debut film was a super hit, did he decide to tread the full path and ask for a dream studio to take his dream forward.
The YRF studios saw many highs in 2004 onwards with Dhoom, Veer Zara (written by Aditya Chopra himself), Fanaa in 2006 and others. The Yash Raj clan felt they could do no wrong. And then came 2007.
Yash Chopra has been described by the industry as a man who had so much more energy than Aditya , younger than Adi, more gregarious, funny – all the traits missing in Aditya.
4. The Entrepreneur Who Used His Basic Instinct But Also Forged New Ideas
Where Aditya listened to others and tried out ideas that he felt, in his gut, might not work, he always saw the silver lining in a failure too – aah, the power of reflection. He knew then, to always trust his instincts and do what he thinks is right, produce what he felt would kick in, but, when the formula stopped working, after several years, and a flop, he felt he might be too old for the cinema audiences who need young ideas, he left the space open for young blood to take their chances. That is how brands and industries move forward. Not with the power of one man, but with the power of ideas, of new blood, fresh approaches and always, a dynamic mindset.
Aditya also decided to break the mould by telling real life stories. The life of an Indian Women Hockey Team’s Coach Kabir Khan played by Shahrukh Khan in ‘Chak De! India’ was just that. But he saw the dip in Yash Raj in 2007 and decided to comeback after seven years and direct a film himself. In 2007, he took 2 weeks off to stay in London and wrote the Superhit ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ – a super blockbuster starring Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma to try and bring Yash Raj back on the map.
But one film does not a studio make and Aditya understood that, so he started looking beyond himself. In 2015, he decided to launch creative producers – people who could think creatively like himself and launch stories on the India cinema that would also, eventually, become super duper hits!
The experiment seems to be working well as Yash Raj just delivered a phenomenal blockbuster with Shahrukh Khan’s Pathaan in 2023 directed by Siddharth Anand.
5. He wasn’t scared to be himself
It is very easy to get caught up in the shadow of your father. especially when the father happens to be Yash Chopra and the son also wants to dabble in film making. Many young people have tried and failed, or tried to repeat the same formula. Aditya was different. The actors who spoke of Yash Chopra in The Romantics, drew a clear line that he was very different from his son, but … they respected the younger Chopra for carving his own way. Just goes to show, the success formula can be different with every generation and still work.
Yash Raj Films was a pioneer in how things are done in Bollywood. To be able to walk out from under your parent’s shadow, to meet great expectations and to win at your own game is a skill that requires courage, hard work and perhaps an inner belief that “I can”. It is in drowning out the voices around you that tell you “you can’t”, it is in listening to your soul – much as I applaud Aditya Chopra for making it as a film maker and stepping out of his father’s shadow, I have to say, his dad, Yash Chopra, gave him that courage, that space and that confidence to do so – and that’s what great parenting is all about!
The Romantics is a 4 episode limited series available on Netflix.
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