Youth is key, says director
2009-10-09 22:21
Busan - Bollywood veteran Yash Chopra, this year's Asian Filmmaker of the Year, said on Friday there is one reason his career has lasted 50 years - he surrounds himself with youth.
"For all these years I have been making what you call romantic movies," the 77-year-old said on the sidelines of the Pusan International Film Festival, which was due later on Friday to honour him for his contribution to Asian cinema.
"Today movies are more youth-centric, for good or bad. Movies, music, food - it is all youth. And that is life. You can't stop that. So that is what I keep all around me and I stay young all the time," Chopra said.
Both as a director and through his production house Yash Raj Films, he has been instrumental not only in the remarkable rise of India cinema, but in the careers of some of its biggest stars, among them Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Chopra started his directing career in 1959 with Dhool Ka Phool (Blossom of Dust) and his films Deewar (The Wall) from 1975 and Silsila (The Affair) from 1981 remain among India's most-loved to this day.
No retirement
He says he has no plans for retirement.
"You never reach the end of the road," said Chopra, who announced in September he would start work on a new film, starring Aamir Khan, in December.
"I'd like to die with my boots on," he continued. "I want to make more good beautiful romantic movies."
Chopra has directed 21 movies - a relatively small number considering the Bollywood movie-making machine churns out more than 1 000 per year. He said it was the subject matter of his films that had kept his output in check.
"In India there are certain subjects that are taboo," he said. "You have to make clean, wholesome romances for the family. There can't be many subjects on this so that's why I have made only about 20 films in my life. But I feel at home making films about human relations."
In recent years many of Bollywood's biggest productions have included scenes shot overseas - while western countries are increasingly training their cameras on India.
The Oscar success this year of British director Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire - shot in India and financed internationally - has focused unprecedented attention on the Indian film world.
While Chopra had no complaints about an "outsider" making a film about his country, he believes films should reflect the culture of those who make them.
Learn culture
"These films are libraries for students," he said. "In terms of trends in technology and even in subjects.
"Suddenly we have seen the world opening up. There is no hiding this thing or that thing. We learn from them, they learn from us.
"But we cannot learn our culture from anyone else. You can make films anywhere in the world, but your own culture, your own traditions; your own values are there. The heart of any film has to show your own culture."
The veteran filmmaker was just as adamant about what it is that makes a good romantic movie - it has to come from the heart.
"Today as we sit here there must be a million people in this country at this juncture saying 'I love you' to someone. But love is not what you say, it is how you say it. And that for me is what makes good romance and great drama.
"If you make a movie from the heart, generally it won't go wrong. But if you make a product, people can tell and they won't warm to it."
Chopra is this year making his first trip to the Pusan festival and says the award came as a complete surprise.
"It is something I never expected and to receive that surprise makes it even more exciting," he said. "I feel both happy and honoured."
The festival continues until October 16 and features 355 films. More than 200 000 people are expected to venture to the port city for the event.