MUMBAI : Widely regarded as one of the most influential Bollywood filmmakers of all time, Yash Chopra started wearing the producer’s hat in 1973 by bankrolling his own film Daag, which laid the foundation for the iconic Yash Raj Films. Known for his distinctive thematic choices in filmmaking, Yash Chopra’s decisions as a producer too were consistently praised.

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Meanwhile, a past incident shared by his daughter-in-law and actor, Rani Mukerji, about Chopra locking her parents in a room in an attempt to get her on board a project he was bankrolling, has now garnered a lot of attention.

Mentioning that the incident happened while YRF was gearing up to remake ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s Tamil classic Alai Payuthey in Hindi as Saathiya, Rani said during an old interview with News18 that she initially turned down the offer to essay the lead role in the project.

Recalling that the offer came her way at a time when she hadn’t signed a project since the debacle of Kunal Kohli’s Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Rani said that she did not take up Saathiya despite not having worked for eight months. 

“At that time, (I was) refusing work, like my mother thought I had gone mad because anything that was getting offered to me I was just like ‘no, no, no.’ I just sat at home,” she said.

Stating that many film critics and magazines had written her off, claiming that her career was over, Rani said, “I was okay with that. I thought, maybe they are right, but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to take up something that my heart believes in.”

“Then, luckily, Saathiya came along, and I remember Yash (Chopra) uncle calling my parents (Ram and Krishna Mukherjee) to his office. My parents had gone to tell him that ‘Rani is not interested in doing this film.’ 

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He called me up and said, ‘Beta, you’re making a very big mistake. I’m locking the door of my room, and I’m not letting your parents out until you say yes to the film.’ And I thank him for that,” she added.

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Credits - The Indian Express