Pamela Chopra with her filmmaker husband Yash Chopra. Photo from Mid-day archives.
Yash Chopra Birthday 2023: Any Bollywood movie buff familiar with Yash Chopra's films also probably knows about the huge contribution of his wife, Pamela Chopra, towards his success. The Netflix documentary series The Romantics went in-depth into the life of Yash Chopra, with anecdotes from his wife, who spoke at length about her husband's journey towards becoming a legendary filmmaker.
On April 20, 2023, Pamela Chopra passed away, over a decade after the death of Yash Chopra. She will be remembered not just as the wife of Yash Chopra, but also as a woman who was an intricate part of her husband's career.
She was born Pamela Singh, the daughter of Mohinder Singh, an officer in the Indian Army. The eldest of three children, she has two younger brothers. Since her father was posted in several remote locations all over India, Chopra was educated at several army schools. She is a cousin of the actress Simi Garewal.
Also read: Late Yash Chopra's wife Pamela Chopra passes away at 74
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Pamela married Yash Chopra in 1970. The marriage was arranged by their families in the traditional Indian manner. They went on to become parents of two sons - Aditya and Uday Chopra.
Pamela has dabbled in several fields connected to film. She has sung several film songs, all of them for her husband's films - from Kabhie Kabhie (1976) to Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002). Her name also appeared in the capacity of 'producer' on the credits of certain films made by her husband. However, the 1993 film Aaina was independently produced by her.
Pamela co-wrote the script of her husband's 1997 film, Dil To Pagal Hai, along with her husband Yash Chopra, her son Aditya Chopra and writer Tanuja Chandra. She has appeared on screen on one single occasion: in the opening song "Ek Duje Ke Vaaste" of the film Dil To Pagal Hai, where she and her husband appeared together.
In The Romantics, Pamela recounted those days when Yash Chopra faced many a sleepless night before the release of his first film as a producer (Daag, 1973). She had always believed in his capabilities even when he wasn't sure of things.
The director often reached out to his wife to understand how the female perspective works. He took pointers from their conversations and added them to his women characters for a nuanced take. This was corroborated by their daughter-in-law, Rani Mukerji, who said that the famous Yash Chopra heroine was created under the influence of Pamela. "I truly believe it had to do a lot with Pam Aunty's (Pamela Chopra) influence in his life that drove him to write such beautiful parts for women. I have always been in awe of how he presented his heroines on screen, and secretly always wished to be the quintessential âYash Chopra heroine," Rani has said.
Amitabh Bachchan said in The Romantics that even though Pamela was in the background of Yash Chopra's work, her thoughts were always in the foreground.
