Yash Chopra with sons Aditya and Uday Chopra. (Image courtesy: karanjohar )

New Delhi:

On Yash Raj Films‘ (YRF) 50th anniversary, filmmaker Aditya Chopra remembered his father Yash Chopra, who founded the production house on September 27 in 1970. The date also marks the birth anniversary of the legendary filmmaker, who “left the comfort and security of his brother,” renowned director-producer B R Chopra, and started his own company, which is now one of the top production houses of Bollywood. On the special occasion, Aditya Chopra, who now owns YRF, wrote a note about the 50-year long journey of the production house: “In 1970, my father left the security and comfort of his brother Mr B R Chopra and formed his own company. Till then, he was a salaried employee of BR Films and didn’t own anything of his own. He did not know how to run a business and did not even have the basic knowledge of what goes into making a company. All he had was a strong belief in his talent and hardwork and a dream to be self-reliant. That conviction of a creative man backing nothing but himself and his art, gave birth to Yash Raj Films.”

“In 1995, as Yash Raj Films entered its 25th year, my directorial debut film Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge released. The historic success of that film gave me confidence to give wings to some crazy risky ideas that I had for the future of YRF. I wanted us to achieve a certain scale, so that we could retain our independence before they came in. My father contradicted his own conservative mindset and bravely indulged all my bold initiatives. And in a span of 10 quick years, we went from a film production house to India’s first fully integrated independent film studio…. Across 5 decades YRF, at its core, has been a traditional company with deep-rooted old world values and a conservative approach to business. But at the same time, it’s also been a bold, forward-looking company, constantly trying to push itself in embracing technology and innovations to be ahead of the curve. This perfect balance of traditional and modern is what defines Yash Raj Films. Today, we enter the 50th year of Yash Raj Films,” added Aditya Chopra. He also thanked artistes, workers and people for making YRF a success.

Read the full note here:

50 years of celebrating movies, 50 years of entertaining you. On this occasion #AdityaChopra pens down a heartfelt note. #YRF50pic.twitter.com/Pfj182ylvy

— Yash Raj Films (@yrf) September 27, 2020

Filmmaker Karan Johar, in his special tweet for Yash Chopra and YRF on Sunday, thanked the legendary filmmaker and his close friend Aditya Chopra for giving him “strength” to pursue his career in filmmaking. “His movies made me love the movies…his hand on my head gave me the strength to stand tall behind the camera…Yash Chopra was not just a filmmaker but a bonafide institution…a legacy so beautifully and Brilliantly taken forward by my mentor and teacher Aditya Chopra….#YRF50,” he tweeted.

His movies made me love the movies…his hand on my head gave me the strength to stand tall behind the camera..Yash Chopra was not just a filmmaker but a bonafide institution…a legacy so beautifully and Brilliantly taken forward by my mentor and teacher Aditya Chopra….#YRF50pic.twitter.com/uj4NLwpypB

— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) September 27, 2020

YRF has delivered several blockbusters like Kabie Kabhie, Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Mohabbatein, Veer-Zaara, Bunty Aur Babli, Band Baaja Baaraat, Chak De India, Sultan and War.

Yash Chopra died in 2012. His son Uday Chopra is best known for his role in the Dhoom series of films.