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Saturday, December 14, 2002
Dada Saheb Phalke for Yash Chopra

New Delhi,Friday, December 13, 2002: Bollywood film-maker Yash Chopra, who produced blockbusters like 'Deewar', 'Kabhi Kabhi' and 'Dil to Pagal Hai', was today chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2001, the top most honour given in the film industry.


Though noted for making candyfloss romances, the versatile Chopra gave the image of 'angry young man" to Amitabh Bachhan in Deewar - a theme emulated in several films later.
Chopra's other memorable films include 'Dhool Ka Phool', 'Ittefaq', 'Trishul, 'Silsila', 'Chandni' and 'Lamhe'.
The award was instituted in 1969 to commemorate the outstanding contribution of the late Dada Saheb Phalke to the industry. It carries a cash prize of Rs 2,00,000, a shawl and a Swarna Kamal.
Seventy-year-old Chopra, whose films have won five national awards and various other awards, started his career as an assistant to his brother B R Chopra and went on to direct over 20 very successful films under his own banner Yash Raj Films and other banners.
While in 'Silsila', he initiated a silver screen coup by casting Amitabh, Jaya Bachhan and Rekha in the same film, in "Lamhe" he experimented with a new kind of romance between a middle-aged man and a young girl. Both films did not do well at the box office, but won critical acclaim for him.
At a time when other film-makers used mainstream music directors, Chopra used to the hilt the talents of classical musician duo Shiv-Hari.
(PTI)