As Yash Raj Films completed 50 years on Sunday (27 September), Aditya Chopra penned a note thanking everyone associated with the production house.
He began by writing about his father, Yash Chopra's journey. "In 1970, my father Yash Chopra left the comfort and security of his brother Mr BR Chopra and formed his own company. Till then, he was a salaried employee of BR Films and didn't own anything of his own. He did not know how to run a business and did not even have the basic knowledge of what goes into making a company. All he had was a strong belief in his talent and hard work and a dream to be self-reliant. That conviction of a creative man backing nothing but himself and his art, gave birth to Yash Raj Films. Mr V. Shantaram, who owned Rajkamal Studios, graciously gave him a small room in his studio for his office. My father didn't know then that a small company he started in a tiny room would one day become the biggest film company of the Indian Film Industry.
Aditya Chopra wrote that his directorial debut released when YRF entered its 25th year. "In 1995, as YRF entered its 25th year, my directorial debut film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge released. The historic success of that film gave me confidence to give wings to some crazy risky ideas that I had for the future of YRF. Besides the immense love that my father had for me, he now also had a lot of faith in my ideas because of the miraculous success of my film. I had foreseen the advent of international corporate studios coming to India and taking over our business... My father contradicted his own conservative mindset and bravely indulged all my bold initiatives. And in a span of 10 years we went from a film production house to India's first fully integrated independent film studio".
Aditya Chopra continued by writing that on YRF's 50th year he wanted to thank everyone associated with the studio.
"Today, we enter the 50th year of Yash Raj Films. So, as I write this note, I'm trying to figure out what exactly is the secret of this 50 year success? What makes a company flourish for 50 years? Is it the creative genius of Yash Chopra? The audacious vision of his 25-year-old upstart son? Or is it just plain luck? It's none of the above. It's the people. The people who worked in each and every YRF film for the last 50 years... It's taken me 25 years to fully understand this. The secret of YRF 50 are the people.Aditya Chopra
Finally, Aditya Chopra thanked the entire film industry for its unflinching support to YRF.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)