Vinod Chopra Films present...

In my last post on Yash Raj Films, I had highlighted how Yash and Aditya Chopra have contributed towards corporatizing Hindi Movie Industry. Continuing from there, I am dedicating this post to another such film-maker, who has gone beyond making good cinema. While his Eklavya is about to hit theaters this Friday - Feb 16, let's peek into Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Bollywood journey so far.

After studying Direction at the Film and Television Institute of India, Vidhu Vinod Chopra had to wait for long before he was commercially accepted at the Box Office. Not many know that his film "An Encounter with Faces" was nominated for an Oscar in the short, non-fiction film category way back in 1979. Next he produced and directed Sazaye Maut and Khamosh, which, despite being good movies, failed to establish him. And then in 1989, came Parinda, which is considered by many to be the pioneer of realistic cinema in commercial form. It paved the way for underworld based gangster movies in Bollywood. Parinda was India's official entry for Oscars 1990 for Best Foreign Language Film. And Vidhu Vinod Chopra has not looked back since then.

We all know his next release 1942: A Love Story was a classic. But Kareeb failed to touch movie goers' hearts while Mission Kashmir met with moderate suceess in 2000. And it was at this point that Vidhu Vinod Chopra started promoting new talents. Result - Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai by Rajkumar Hirani and Parineeta by Pradeep Sarkar. All gems of movies. They have made Vinod Chopra Films one of the most sought after production houses.

Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff are the most regular actors of Vinod Chopra Films wherein they have given their career-best performances. Jackie Shroff in Parinda and Sanjay Dutt in Munna Bhai series. Latest to join them are Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan, who excelled in Parineeta. And who can forget Arshad Warsi's Circuit act. With Eklavya, Vidhu Vinod Chopra has even fulfilled his 30 year long dream of working with Amitabh Bachchan.

A bit of trivia - Vidhu Vinod Chopra played the role of Dushasana in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, the 1983 cult movie by Kundan Shah. The lead characters' names Vinod (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir (Ravi Baswani) in that movie were based on Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sudhir Mishra, colleagues at FTII Pune.

Here's wishing good luck to Vidhu Vinod Chopra for Eklavya and all forthcoming movies, which includes "64 Squares" (Chess) with Big B!