Yash Chopra's body to be kept at Yash Raj Studios for last darshan till noon

Mumbai, October 22: Legendary film director, screenwriter and film producer Yash Chopra passed away at Lilavati hospital in Mumbai on Sunday, after being diagnosed with dengue.


Chopra's body was on Sunday night taken to Yash Raj Studios in suburban Andheri after it was brought to his residence in Juhu in Mumbai.

Chopra's son Aditya, filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Shah Rukh Khan accompanied the ambulance in which the body was brought from Lilavati Hospital in suburban Bandra where he died this evening at 5:30 pm of dengue and multiple organ failure.

Chopra's family members also accompanied the body on its journey to the Studios.

Chopra was admitted to Lilavati Hospital on October 13 after he was diagnosed with dengue.

Apart from his family members, Bollywood celebrities Sanjay Dutt, Kunal Kohli, Madhur Bhandarkar were among others who offered their condolences to the legendary filmmaker at his residence.

"His (Yash Chopra's) passing away is a shocking thing. We were expecting him to recover soon and we all were awaiting to see him. His contribution to the industry is unparallelled," Bhandarkar said.

Chopra will be cremated on Monday at Chandanwadi crematorium in south Mumbai at 3 pm.

His body will be kept at Yash Raj Studios for last darshan on Monday between 9 am to 12 noon.

Chopra, who celebrated his 80th birthday on 27th September, had been admitted to the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai last week on account of dengue infection, hospital sources said.

Chopra, known for landmark Bollywood films such as 'Trishul', 'Deewar', 'Silsila', 'Chandni' and 'Dil to Pagal Hai', during his career spanning over five decades, had said on his birthday last month that his upcoming film 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' would he his last movie as a director.

Lilavati hospital spokesperson said Chopra was in the ICU for the past few days.

Chopra, 80, is survived by wife and two sons, filmmaker Aditya Chopra and actor-producer Uday Chopra.

Yash Raj Chopra was born in Lahore, now in Pakistan, on 27th September 1932. He began his career as an assistant director to his elder brother B R Chopra and directed his own first film 'Dhool Ka Phool' in 1959.

The Chopra brothers made several more movies together during the late 50s and 60s. Chopra's first commercial as well as critical success was Waqt (1965), a multi-starrer family drama.

In 1973, Chopra founded his own production company Yash Raj Films.

Though he started out in late 50s, Chopra always had his finger on the pulse of the audience and continued to deliver blockbusters in every following decade.

His repertoire includes iconic angry-young man films like 'Trishul' and 'Deewar', both featuring Amitabh Bachchan in central roles, but in the later years Chopra was more and more associated with the 'romance' genre.

Reacting to the news, filmmaker Subhash Ghai said, "Yashji was the guru of industry. He was always full of energy. He will be remembered forever."

Director-producer Mahesh Bhatt said the "news is heart breaking."

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar said she and Chopra shared family relations. "He made me sing in all his films," she said.

"He was a jovial person and interacted with everyone with love... Even when he was angry, he simply kept quiet," said Mangeshkar.

He gave importance to music, and all his films had good songs, she noted.