Aditya Chopra facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Aditya Chopra
Chopra in 2012
Born	(1971-05-21) 21 May 1971 (age 53) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Alma mater	University of Mumbai
Occupation	Film director producer screenwriter studio executive
Years active	1988–present
Board member of	Tata Strategic Management (2012–present)
Spouse(s)	Payal Khanna ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2009)​ Rani Mukerji ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Yash Chopra Pamela Chopra
Family	Chopra Mukerji

Aditya Chopra (born 21 May 1971) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and studio executive who works in Hindi cinema. He is the Chairman of India's multi-national film, media, and entertainment conglomerate Yash Raj Films (YRF). The films he has produced make him one of the highest grossing Indian film producers of all time.

Having denied Chopra admission into the National School of Drama due to his severe stammering as a young applicant, the Film Division of India eventually honored him with the National Award for his achievements in 1995, 2004, 2007 and 2015. Widely regarded as the most influential executive in Indian entertainment, Chopra has however rejected the publicity and fame that came with being Yash Chopra's son and the chief executive of Yash Raj Films.

Early life

Chopra, the elder son of the late filmmaker Yash Chopra and Pamela Chopra, was born on 21 May 1971. His only sibling is actor and producer Uday Chopra. He is the nephew of film producers B.R. Chopra and Yash Johar, and the cousin of filmmakers Karan Johar and Ravi Chopra. He completed his formal education and acquired his Indian Certificate of Secondary Education from Bombay Scottish School. He graduated from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics along with Anil Thadani, Karan Johar and Abhishek Kapoor.

Filmmaking career

Chopra started his film-making career at the age of 18 as an assistant director, working with his father on films such as Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991) and Darr (1993). He also wrote his first screenplays for his father's Parampara (1992) and his mother's independently produced film Aaina (1993), which was the only film not directed by his father that he served as an assistant director on.

1995: Directorial debut and success

Chopra, after gaining a respectable amount of experience, started independently at the age of 23 with the all-time blockbuster romantic comedy-drama Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, for which he was the director and writer. The film was scripted by Chopra and produced by his father Yash Chopra, under the YRF banner. Chopra started work on the script of the film in 1990, at the age of 19, and gradually spent time making about five drafts of the film's original script. Chopra even managed to convince his brother Uday Chopra and Karan Johar, both aspiring filmmakers, to enter the film industry as assistant directors with the film. Chopra once said that the presence of his relatives during the making of the film worked as a huge emotional support. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge eventually went on to become one of the biggest hits of all time and won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and the Filmfare Award for Best Film, in addition to the Filmfare Award for Best Director for Chopra.

1996–2002: Extensive work in Yash Raj Films

Chopra eventually went on to write the dialogues and the story of his father's 1997 musical romance Dil To Pagal Hai, (which won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment), also made under YRF. His next film as a director was the musical romantic drama Mohabbatein (2000) starring Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, and also launched his brother Uday Chopra into the film industry. The film was also written and co-produced by Chopra and emerged as the highest-grossing film of the year, earning Chopra his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director. The next film under the banner was the romantic comedy Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (2002), which released in June 2002, starring his brother Uday alongside Tulip Joshi, Bipasha Basu and Jimmy Sheirgill. The film did moderately well at the box office. The studio's final release that year was the romantic drama Saathiya, a remake of the Tamil film Alaipayuthey, which starred Vivek Oberoi opposite Rani Mukerji. The film proved to be a major hit at the box office.

2004: Breakthrough in production

In 2004, Chopra produced the romantic comedy Hum Tum, the action thriller Dhoom and the epic love saga Veer-Zaara (for which he was also the screenwriter) under the YRF banner. All three films went on to become major critical and commercial successes, earning more than ₹200 crore (US$34 million) (unadjusted for inflation) in the worldwide market. The films became the sixth, third and highest-grossing Indian films of 2004. The company won most of the Indian film awards in the year, with Veer-Zaara also winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Chopra then produced and wrote several other highly critically and commercial successful films over the years, namely Bunty Aur Babli, Salaam Namaste, Fanaa, Dhoom 2 and Chak De India (which also won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment).

Chopra also made his third film as a director in 2008 with the romantic comedy Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi starring Shahrukh Khan and launching newcomer Anushka Sharma. The film received mixed reviews upon release, but emerged as one of the highest-grossing films for Khan and YRF at that time, earning ₹172 crore (US$29 million) in the worldwide market. The film earned Chopra his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director.

YRF launched a number of budding screenwriters and directors under their banner throughout these years. Directors and screenwriters such as Karan Johar (his Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was co-produced and released by Yash Raj Film Distributors), Kunal Kohli, Kabir Khan, Sanjay Gadhvi, Jaideep Sahni, Siddharth Anand, Shimit Amin, Habib Faisal, Shaad Ali, Maneesh Sharma and Vijay Acharya debuted under YRF and have gone on to become independent entities in films. The company also produced films for filmmakers such as Anil Mehta and Pradeep Sarkar under their banner. The company was eventually ranked at Number 1 (among the most successful film production companies in India) in a survey conducted by Filmfare and at number 27 (among the most successful film production companies in the world) in a survey by The Hollywood Reporter, both under the vice-chairmanship of Chopra.

Return to film direction: Befikre (2016)

In September 2015, YRF announced Chopra's directorial comeback with the romantic comedy Befikre, scheduled for a December 2016 release. In October 2015, it was announced that Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor were cast in the lead roles. In December 2015, YRF announced that the music of the film will be produced by Vishal–Shekhar and Jaideep Sahni, both of whom would return to collaborate with YRF after roughly 9 years. The film marked Chopra's directorial comeback 8 years after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008). A theatrical trailer of the film was released at the Eiffel Tower and across social media platforms in the month of October. The film was budgeted at ₹70 crore (US$12 million) (including print and advertising costs) and released across 2900 screens worldwide on 9 December 2016. It opened to widespread negative reviews across platforms and faced heavy losses to its business because of the currency demonetisation implied by the Government of India a few days prior to its release. The film managed to gross ₹63 crore (US$11 million) after a two-week theatrical run at the global box office, failing to manage break-even business for YRF.

Career as studio executive

In 2004, Chopra started producing under the YRF banner. He produced Hum Tum, Dhoom and Veer-Zaara (for which he was also the screenwriter), all three films went on to become critical and commercial blockbusters, earning more than ₹200 crore (US$34 million) (unadjusted for inflation) in the worldwide market. The films became the sixth, third and highest-grossing Indian films of 2004. The company won most of the Indian film awards in the year, with Veer-Zaara also winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

The company saw an all-time low, with several of their high-budgeted films not doing well at the box office, despite favourable critical reviews and the company thereby suffering losses amounting to millions from 2007 to 2010. The films broke YRF's perfect success ratio and were oddly released one after another. Some of the most unsuccessful films produced under the banner were Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Tashan, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Roadside Romeo, and Pyaar Impossible. Chopra then took over as the Vice Chairman of Yash Raj Films in 2010, soon after the release of the film Badmaash Company under the same banner.

Chopra has produced several commercially viable projects including off-beat content not necessarily fitting into the realm of "masala films". Chopra is the first to move towards the film studio model through independent projects helmed by talent under his banner. Major post-production work of the company is completed at YRF Studios (co-founded by his ex-wife Payal Khanna), where Chopra serves as Chief Executive. The Government of India appealed both Chopra and Mani Ratnam to focus on content created locally under its Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. In June 2018, he was awarded membership into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the Producers Guild of America. Apart from emerging as an equitable brand, his company earned the status of a movie mogul through distribution networks spread across the globe. In May 2020, Chopra refused licensing deals with Amazon, Netflix, and with Apple TV+ opting for traditional film exhibition. YRF finalised plans to launch its own OTT service with Tata ELXSI the same year.

Personal life

He was married to Payal Khanna, until their divorce in 2009. The couple had no children. On 21 April 2014, he married actress Rani Mukerji in a private wedding ceremony in Italy. In December 2015, Rani gave birth to their daughter Adira Chopra.

He has remained extremely media-shy and a passive individual, battling constant reports of an alleged dysthymic disorder throughout his three-decade career, resulting in very few public photos of him being in existence. In 2023, Chopra sat down for an extensive interview for the first time in 28 years for the Netflix series, The Romantics, which highlights the rise of Yash Chopra and Yash Raj Films.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

See also

In Spanish: Aditya Chopra para niños

• List of Hindi film clans
• List of highest-grossing Bollywood films
• The Romantics (series)