Yash Chopra at Taj Bengal. Picture by Rashbehari Das

The king of romance, Yash Chopra, charmed his audience of ladies in a candid chat with Oindrilla Dutt at Taj Bengal on Saturday evening. Though the rain sent the Ladies Study Group do at the Terrace Garden indoors, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the gang. Some highlights of the evening...

What attracted him to films...

The reason behind my taking up film-making is my elder brother B.R Chopra. He is my philosopher and guide.... In 1959, I made Dhool Ka Phool.... You are, however, only as good as your last film. No director can rest on their laurels.

What makes a good film-maker?

Films are mirrors of society and emotions. If a film-maker is not honest and passionate and does not have conviction, he cannot be a good film-maker.

What about (son) Aditya Chopra?

Adi can feel the pulse of the youth. He is a complete film-maker.... It is the youth that decides what will work, be it films or fashion. If they reject a film, it fails at the box office.

The ChakDe! India story...

It was not based on any basic success formula. There was no singing and dancing in the film and still it was a hit. I think this was Shah Rukh’s best performance. So, the taste is changing.... Everybody has the right to make what he likes. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.

His animation adventure…

We are making Roadside Romeo (a Walt Disney Pictures and Yash Raj Films production with Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Jaaved Jaaferi) and we have used animation in the film. It may be in collaboration with Hollywood, but all the work is being done here in India.

The Veer-Zaara music...

When I was making Veer-Zaara, I was looking for a certain kind of music. One day, (late) Madan Mohan’s son Sanjeev Kohli approached me with music his father had composed many years back. I asked Adi and Sanjeev to come up with 20-25 songs each. We did a dummy recording with 50-55 songs. While recording, Lataji was in tears.

Today, I feel I was writing history. Not a single film’s music has been able to go past the scale of Veer-Zaara in the past three to four years.

Daag and the famous Sharmila Tagore-Rakhee Gulzar rivalry...

If you are honest, your film will not be affected. When I made Daag (1973), I knew about their (Sharmila and Rakhee) personal relationship. I asked them to read the scripts and get back to me if they liked it. It was my first film as a producer. Rakhee even came to me with some money. That was a very emotional moment.