Ravi Chopra

Ravi Chopra
Born	(1946-09-27)27 September 1946 Lahore, Punjab, British India
Died	12 November 2014(2014-11-12) (aged 68) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Education	St. Xavier's College, Mumbai (BA)
Occupations	Director producer
Years active	1969–2009
Spouse	Renu Chopra ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	2
Parent	B.R. Chopra (father)
Family	Chopra

Ravi Chopra (27 September 1946 – 12 November 2014) was an Indian filmmaker, best known for directing the television show Mahabharat (1988-1990).

Life

Chopra was the son of producer and director B.R.Chopra and nephew of Yash Chopra. Aditya Chopra and Uday Chopra are his cousins.

Ravi with his father B.R. Chopra and uncle Yash Chopra in 2008 on the re-release of 1957 film Naya Daur in Mumbai

He was married to Renu since 1975, they have two children together.

On 23 October 2012, he was diagnosed with a severe lung ailment and was discharged from Breach Candy hospital after a week. "He was discharged from hospital on October 26," hospital sources said, without going into details. He was being treated for lung cancer at CMC Vellore. Chopra died on 12 November 2014 at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai where he had been admitted a few days earlier for a lung ailment. He was 68 years old, and survived by his wife and two children.

Career

Film career

Chopra started his career assisting his father B.R. Chopra in films like, Dastaan (1972) and Dhund (1973). He also assisted his uncle Yash Chopra in Ittefaq (1969). Eventually, he made his independent directorial debut with Zameer (1975), produced under the family banner, B. R. Films. In 1980, he directed the ensemble disaster film The Burning Train, which over the years is considered a cult classic. Other films he directed included Mazdoor (1983), Aaj Ki Awaaz, Dehleez (1986), Pratigyabadh, Kal Ki Awaz (1992). Then he, along with his father, directed TV series Mahabharat (1988–89)

Since 2006, the only movies Ravi produced after his father's death was Bhoothnath (2008).

Television career

Ravi directed the highly successful television serial Mahabharat, which aired during 1988–1990, and the television mini-series, Ramayan, which was aired in 2002. He also directed mythological shows like Vishnu Puran and Ma Shakti. His TV series Aap Beeti was one of the most popular TV show on Doordarshan National in the early 2000s.

Plagiarism controversy

Ravi Chopra was served with a legal notice in 2009 by 20th Century Fox, which charged that his upcoming movie Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai blatantly plagiarized the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny. Chopra and the production company, Mumbai-based BR Films, denied the charges in court in May 2009; the movie's release was to be delayed until June 2009 by order of the Bombay High Court. Fox sought damages of $1.4 million; this was the first time a Bollywood filmmaker was taken to court by a Hollywood company over the remaking of a film. Fox had given Chopra permission "to make a film loosely based on the Oscar-winning movie" but concluded the final product was a "substantial reproduction" of the original. The film has remained unreleased even after Ravi Chopra's death in 2014.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1969	Ittefaq	No	No	No	Assistant director only
1972	Dastaan	No	No	No
1973	Dhund	Associate	No	No
1975	Zameer	Yes	No	No
1978	Tumhari Kasam	Yes	No	No
1980	The Burning Train	Yes	No	Yes
	Insaf Ka Tarazu	No	Associate	No
1981	Agni Pareeksha	No	Associate	No
1982	Nikaah	No	Associate	No
	Teri Meri Kahani	No	Associate	No	Television film
1983	Dharti Aakash	No	Associate	No
	Mazdoor	Yes	No	No
1984	Aaj Ki Awaaz	Yes	Associate	No
1986	Dahleez	Yes	Associate	No
1987	Awam	No	Associate	No
1991	Pratigyabadh	Yes	No	No
1992	Kal Ki Awaz	Yes	Yes	No	Co-directed with B.R. Chopra
1999	Eastside	No	Yes	Yes
2003	Baghban	Yes	No	No
2004	Karma	No	Yes	No	Short film
2006	Baabul	Yes	No	Yes
2008	Heaven on Earth	No	Executive	No
	Bhoothnath	No	Yes	No
2009	Cooking with Stella	No	Executive	No
	Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai	Yes	No	No	Unreleased

Television

Year	Title	Director	Producer
1986	Bahadur Shah Zafar	Yes	Yes
1987	Chunni	Yes	No
1988-1990	Mahabharat	Yes	No
1993-1996	Kanoon	Yes	No
1995	Ek Se Badhkar Ek	Yes	No
1995-1996	Jhansi Ki Rani	Yes	No
1997	Aurat	Yes	Yes
1997-1998	Mahabharat Katha	Yes	Yes
2000-2002	Vishnu Puran	Yes	No
2001	Aap Beeti	Yes	Yes
2001-2002	Ramayan	Yes	Yes
2002-2003	Maa Shakti	Yes	Yes
2004-2005	Kamini Damini	Yes	Yes
2008	Sujata	No	Yes

External links

• Ravi Chopra at IMDb