Ravi Chopra
Talented director-producer dies due to lung ailment
In another devastating blow to one of the most distinguished Bollywood families, Producer-director Ravi Chopra passed away yesterday at 3:30 pm in Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Aged 68, he had supposedly been diagnosed with lung cancer a couple of years ago and had been admitted to the hospital a week ago.
Survived by his wife and three children, his death follows the sad demise of his father, legendary producer & director BR Chopra who passed away in 2008 and his even more famous uncle Yash Chopra who died in 2012.
Born in 1946, he began his career working alongside his father in Dastaan (1972) and Dhund (1973), also lending a hand to uncle Yash in Ittefaq (1969).
Finally, he debuted as a director in Zameer (1975), going on to make more films, of which family dramas Baghban (2003) and Baabul (2006) were the most famous.
Making his debut in production with Insaf Ka Tarazu in 1980, he went on to produce several projects like Bhoothnath, Heaven on Earth and Cooking with Stella, a show which was featured in 2009 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
He also penned several scripts in his lifetime, like The Burning Train in 1980, Eastside in 1999 and Baabul in 2006.
However, he is most famous for his work in television. Ravi Chopra can be credited to be the one responsible for reviving Indian mythology to a great extent. From 1988 to 1990, he directed Mahabharat (Watch all episodes here) which was produced by B.R. Chopra. In 2002, he also directed Ramayan as a television mini-series.
In fact, we would have seen more of him as a director in the mythological Vasudev Krishna slated for 2014-2015.
Bollywood biggies like Hema Malini, Farah Khan, Rathi Agnihotri, Madhur Bhandarkar and others in the industry have raised their voices bidding farewell to this talented film maker.