Family, close friends, as well as people from the Bollywood film industry came to pay their final respects to legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra before he was cremated today. Chopra died from multiple organ failure on 21 October due to complications from dengue fever. The last rites were performed on him at the Vile Parle crematorium today at 3pm IST. His body was covered with flowers and garlands (with a black and white picture of him accompanying it) before being transported to the crematorium from Yash Raj Studios in Andheri, Mumbai. The cremation was more of a private event, with only some industry figures such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan being present. However, it was at the YRF Studios early this morning that almost everyone from the Bollywood fraternity came out to pay their final respects to the great director. They included Rekha, Shashi Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Rishi Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor Kajol, Sridevi with husband Boney Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Manoj Kumar,Priyanka Chopra, Manoj Kumar,Sohail Khan, Arbaaz Khan and father Salim Khan, Preity Zinta, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Jimmy Shergill, Karisma Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Saroj Khan, John Abraham, Manish Malhotra, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Karan Johar, Imran Khan and many more.
Before being transferred to YRF Studios, Chopra’s body was taken from Lilavati hospital to his residence in Juhu for a brief period yesterday. Many actors immediately arrived both at the hospital and at his residence to pay their respects after hearing about Chopra’s unexpected death. They included Salman Khan, Ramesh Sippy, Dilip Kumar with his wife Saira Banu, Sonu Nigam, Priyanka Chopra, Manish Malhotra, as well as Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai. Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar were also present. Both of them accompanied Chopra’s body with his sons Aditya and Uday from the hospital to his Juhu residence.
With Chopra’s demise, it is indeed the end of an era for the Bollywood film industry. The filmmaker has given many hits throughout his 50 years in cinema. He made us fall in love with each and every film. The man behind succesfull films such as Silsila, Kabhi Kabhi, Darr, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, Deewar and Veer Zaara might not be among us anymore, but he will continue to rule our hearts with his films.
We will miss you, Yashji!
With contributions by Charla Manohar
