Socially relevant yet commercially viable, BR Chopra’s cinema was mainstream, yet hatke. A film without songs, villains having the last laugh in the end, a symbolic ending of a horse carriage defeating a car in a race... he was always trying out new methods of movie message. Here are his top 20 films as director and producer...

 

AS DIRECTOR

Ek Hi Raasta (1956): He launched his production house BR Films with this heartwrenching tale of widow remarriage starring Meena Kumari and Sunil Dutt

Naya Daur (1957): Perhaps his greatest film, this Dilip Kumar-starrer was Nehruvian in spirit about how the advent of machines threatened the very existence of the rural community (picture below)

Kanoon (1960): A look at the judicial system in India, this courtroom drama had powerpacked performances by Ashok Kumar and Rajendra Kumar

Gumrah (1963): The original Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, about a woman sacrificing her love for her dead sister, this one goes further ahead with the former lover coming back and creating tension in the family

Hamraaz (1967): His first of many crime thrillers, the Sunil Dutt-Raaj Kumar-starrer is best remembered for Mahendra Kapoor’s Neele gagan ke tale

Dhund (1973): Danny’s breakthrough movie, starring Sanjay Khan and his then lover Zeenat Aman, was a gripping thriller about how a stranger helps a woman who has just killed her crippled and abusive husband

Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978): The man, the wife and the secretary, this one is a different look at the dynamics of an extra-marital relationship from that of the Basu Bhattacharya trilogy

Insaaf Ka Tarazu

Insaaf Ka Tarazu (1980): A comeback of sorts, BR Chopra shocked audiences with this highly sexual film about a man raping a woman and then claiming it was consensual sex. Raj Babbar as the predator and Zeenat as the preyed

Nikaah (1982): Chopra’s most sensitive film, the Salma Agha-starrer was more than just a Muslim social

Tawaif (1985): The trials and tribulations of a kothawaali (Rati Agnihotri)who falls in love with a common man

AS PRODUCER

Dhool Ka Phool (1959): Like most BR Chopra films, this one too dealt with socially relevant issues like illiteracy and communal harmony and was directed by younger brother Yash Chopra

Ittefaq (1969): A suspense thriller starring Rajesh Khanna and Nanda, Ittefaq had music by Salil Chowdhury and was helmed by Yash Chopra

Zameer (1975): Directed by son Ravi Chopra, it had a stellar starcast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor and Saira Banu

Chhoti Si Baat (1976): An endearing comedy about the triumph of the underdog, Chhoti Si Baat was directed by Basu Chatterjee and starred Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha

The Burning Train (1980): The gripping story of a train on fire was directed by Ravi Chopra and had Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Parveen Babi and Hema Malini in it

Agnee Pareeksha (1981): A family social with a thriller twist, it was directed by Kamal Majumdar and starred Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt

Mazdoor (1983): Yet another socially relevant film about the plight of factory labourers, Mazdoor had a superlative performance by Dilip Kumar

Aaj Ki Awaaz (1984): A heartwrenching tale of a family man (Raj Babbar) who takes the law into his own hands, Aaj Ki Awaaz was directed by Ravi Chopra

Baghban (2003): Ravi Chopra carried on the BR Chopra tradition of socially relevant films with this Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini starrer about parents neglected by their children

Baabul (2006): Fifty years after Ek Hi Raasta, the father-son duo revisited widow remarriage with this Amitabh-Rani Mukerji film