Yash Raj Films’ debut film Daag-A Poem of Love hits 50!
Yash Raj Films’ debut film Daag-A Poem of Love hits 50!
Yash Raj Films’ “Daag” completes 50 years of its release today 27 April 2023.
A Poem of Love, “Daag” featured Super Star Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore and the film emerged as the third-highest grosser of that superabundant year for Hindi cinema, next only to the record-breaking Raj Kapoor’s Bobby and the trendsetting Prakash Mehra directorial “Zanjeer” featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri and ahead of other blockbusters like “Yaadon Ki Baraat” and “Jugnu”
Reportedly, “Daag” was Yash Chopra’s first film as producer following his split from brother B.R.Chopra and sixth film as director and fifth success after his 1959 directorial debut, Dhool Ka Phool. The screenplay was written by Yash Chopra himdekfwriting the screenplay along with the then-top writer, novelist Gulshan Nanda, who also penned the story.
Few then, including Yash Chopra himself, could have foretold that in the next half-century, notwithstanding some setbacks off and on, the banner would become the Numero Uno film production company in the country.
Yash Chopra had merely decided to break away and turn independent sans remaining as a shadow to elder brother,
B.R. Chopra at BR Films, a legend and a legendary institution, respectively. He had been assisting his elder brother since Ek Hi Rasta (1956) besides also directing Waqt (the biggest hit of 1965), Ittefaq and Aadmi Aur Insaan.
The new company, named Yash Raj Films, was established in 1971 with this maiden production, when Yash was working with B.R. Chopra in his Dastaan. The muhurat shot for Daag: A Poem of Love was given by its hero, Dilip Kumar, who later went on to do Mashaal (1984) for Yash Raj Films. The woman who motivated Yash Chopra to launch their banner was wife Pamela, who passed away just a week before the 50th release anniversary of the film.
Though young Yash launched his own company, and took key team members from the BR Films, Akhtar-Ul-Iman (later known as Amjad Khan’s father-in-law), editor Pran Mehra, lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and M.A. Shaikh, audiographer on a number of B.R. Chopra films.
Kaygee, assistant cameraman on several BR projects and independent cinematographer in the experimental super-hit, Ittefaq directed by Yash Chopra, was the DOP. Gaekwad, also assistant art director in several of the elder Chopra’s movies, who had started off independently with Ittefaq too, was signed as art director.
News input KV Raman
