Baldev Raj Chopra (B. R. Chopra) (22 April 1914–5 November 2008) was a director and producer of Bollywood movies and television serials. Best known for making Hindi films like Naya Daur (1957), Sadhna (1958), Kanoon (1961), Gumrah (1963) and Humraaz (1967) and the TV series, Mahabharat in the late 1980s, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1998.
His younger brother Yash Chopra, son Ravi Chopra and nephew Aditya Chopra are also directors in the Bollywood industry.
Chopra was born in Ludhiana, India, the son of Vilayati Raj Chopra, an employee of the PWD. He was the second of several siblings; one of his brothers is the film-maker Yash Chopra, and among his sisters is Hiroo Johar, wife of the film-maker Yash Johar.
B.R. was instrumental in developing the career of singer Mahendra Kapoor, whom he employed in most of his movies. (Director-producer Yash Chopra cast Mahendra Kapoor’s son in Faasle.)
One prominent thing about B. R. Chopra is the relatively low number of songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi in his films, with Asha Bhosle and Mahendra Kapoor being his preferred singers. The reason behind this was never revealed by him or the singers.
B.R. forayed into television with Mahabharat, one of the most successful TV serials in Indian television history. Nitish Bharadwaj played the role of Krishna in that series. Another of his memorable TV dramas is Bahadur Shah Zafar.
He died in Mumbai at the age of 94 on 5 November 2008, survived by his son, Ravi Chopra, and two daughters.
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