Yash Raj Chopra was a film director and producer, born on 27th September 1932 in Lahore, Punjab Province, (then) British India. He predominantly worked in Hindi cinema, and making his debut directing “Dhool Ka Phool” in 1959. Some of his most notable films include “Waqt” (1965), “Deewar”, “Trishul”, “Chandni” among many others. Chopra was also the founder of the Yash Raj Studios and Yash Raj Films production companies. He passed away in 2012.
Have you ever wondered how rich Yash Chopra was? According to sources it has been estimated that Yash Chopra’s overall net worth was $50 million, acquired through a long and lucrative career in the film industry which spanned more than 50 years. Having made an acknowledged and respected name for himself, his net worth grew after each project’s success.
Yash Chopra Net Worth $50 Million
Yash was born into a Punjabi Hindu family, the youngest of eight children. He was mostly brought up by his second eldest brother, BR Chopra who was a film journalist at the time. In 1945, Yash went to Jalandhar and enrolled at the Doaba College, and although he originally wanted to pursue a career in engineering, Chopra’s love for film-making prevailed, and he traveled to Bombay and started working as director I.S.Johar’s assistant.
Yash’s first directing opportunity came in 1959 when he filmed the social drama “Dhool Ka Phool”, produced by an older brother, one of the most profitable films of the year and receiving positive critiques. Two years later, the brothers released another project of their cooperation called “Dharmputra”(1961), which was one of the first films depicting the partition of India, and received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Followed the 1965 film “Waqt”, which became another critical and commercial success, and earned Yash his first Filmfare Best Director Award, boosting his net worth too.
Some of other notable films Chopra directed include “Aadmi Aur Insaan” and “Ittefaq”, which brought him his second Filmfare Award for best director. In 1971, Yash founded the Yash Raj Films entertainment company, which terminated his collaboration with his brother. His first independent film was “Daag: A Poem of Love”(1973), and soon followed “Deewaar”, “Trishul”, “Kabhi Kabhie”, “Silsila” and many others. The period of the ‘80s wasn’t as fruitful as earlier years as the films he produced failed to leave a mark in the box office. However, in 1989, with the release of the cult classic “Chandni”, Chopra came back to popularity, setting a new style in Hindi films, naturally known as the Yash Chopra style, with the film also winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film of the year.
Another Bollywood hit came in 1991 with “Lamhe” which won five Filmfare Awards including for Best Movie. During the ‘90s, Yash released several other hit films, such as “Darr” and “Dil To Pagal Hai”, and then took some time off from directing, until his return with the love saga “Veer-Zaara” in 2004.
Chopra never let up working, and even directed 10 films in his last three years. His final directorial project was to be “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”, a film he announced on his 80th birthday in September 2012. However, Yash died during the process of its filming, on 21st October 2012 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Privately, Chopra married Pamela Singh in 1970 with whom he had two sons – Aditya Chopra, also a film director and producer and Uday Chopra an assistant director and actor.
