Prem Chopra  is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi  films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. He has a soft-spoken diction despite being a villain in most films. His 19 films, with him as antagonist and Rajesh Khanna  in the lead role remain popular with audiences and critics.

In Simla, Chopra developed an interest in acting as he had begun to take part in many plays in his college days. He managed to go to Bombay  to pursue his dream of acting in Bollywood  films. To survive in the fast life of Bombay, he took up a job with The Times of India while trying to gain a foothold in the film industry.  While traveling by the suburban train one day, a stranger accosted him and asked if he was interested in joining films. Chopra nodded in agreement and went with that stranger to Ranjit Studios where the producers of Chaudhari Karnail Singh were in search of a hero.  Jagjit Sethi, a Punjabi producer, gave him a break as the hero of the established star Jabeen Jalil in  Chaudhary Karnail Singh, a Punjabi film. His debut film was a Hindu-Muslim romantic love story set against the backdrop of Indo-Pak partition and it turned out to be a big hit. The film even won the National award in the categories for best actress and best film.  He was paid Rs 2500 for his debut film.  The movie took almost three years to complete.

During his stint with the  Times of India, he worked in Punjabi films including  Sapani  and Hindi films such as Woh Kaun Thi?, Shaheed, and Teesri Manzil.  Prem did not consider acting as a full-time profession in the early 1960s, but he kept trying to get roles in films due to his passion for acting. Among his early films he played Sukhdev in Shadeed, one of his rare positive leading roles.

Since 1967, he has been a leading villain in Hindi films and his peak period as main villain was from 1967 to 1995.

In the critically acclaimed comedy film Hulchul  (1971), he played the lead hero in this suspense thriller. He played the main lead in the 1970 box office hit small budget comedy film Samaj Ko Badal Dalo  as lead hero. The song sung by Rafi and picturised on Prem Chopra – “Tum Apni Saheli Ko Itna Bata Do Ki Usse Koi Pyar Karne Laga Hai” from this 1970 film and the song “Rah Mein Kaliya” – a song sung by Kishore Kumar and performed on-screen by Prem Chopra in the film Nafrat  (1973). The dialogue “Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra” (My name is Prem, Prem Chopra) from the film Bobby  has been very popular. The film brought him international recognition when it became one of the top 20 biggest blockbusters of all time in the erstwhile Soviet Union. Another famous Prem Chopra dialogue is from the film Souten  – “Main wo bala hoon jo sheshay se pathar ko todte hai”, which closely translates to “I am that trouble which crushes stones with glass”. Another dialogue from Souten  was – “Jinke Ghar Sheeshe Ke Hote Hain Woh Batti Bhujakar Kapde Badalte Hai”. “Main jo aag lagata hoon use boojhana bhi jaanta hoon” from Kati Patanag.

He was the regular in villainous roles in the films with Rajesh Khanna in the lead role from 1969 to 1991 from Doli  (1969) till Ghar Parivar (1991). The duo of Prem and Rajesh Khanna acted in 19 films together and 15 of them were box office hits, and they were very close friends in real life till Khanna’s death. Prem quoted in an interview “Rajesh Khanna and I were considered a lucky pair and distributors used to tell Rajesh Khanna that we don’t care who your heroine is, all we want to know is whether Prem Chopra is in the film.”  He also mouthed dialogues in the song “Aaj Pila Dey Saathi Apni” sung by Mahendra Kapoor  from the film Doli (1969). He also mouthed dialogues in the song “Lo Mera Pyar Lelo” from Nafrat in 1973  and “Kab Se Ye Dil Hai Pyaasa” from  Mera Muqaddar  in 1988.

He played son to villainous character of actor Ajit  in films like Azaad, Chhupa Rustom, Jugnu and co-starred with him in Des Pardes, Ram Balram and Barood. In the late 80s, he played second fiddle to Amrish Puri  only in a few films. Amrish Puri  had played Prem Chopra’s henchman in Dostana, Immaan Dharam  and a minuscule role in Naseeb. He was main villain in all films starring Manoj Kumar. He was paired opposite actress Bindu regularly.

Chopra’s on-screen evil didn’t rely on gizmos, his characters didn’t rely on henchmen to do the dirty work and he never needed wicked names.   Some of his famous dialogues from the 1990s include – “Sharafat aur imaandaari ka certificate ye duniya sirf unhe deti hai jinke paas daulat hoti hai” from Aaag Ka Gola  (1990), “Bhains poonch uthayegi to gaana to nahi gayegi, gobar hi degi” from Aaj Ka Arjun (1990), “Tu Madhuri se thodi kum aur Mandakini se thodi zyada hai” from  Aaj Ka Goonda Raj  (1992), “Rajneeti ki bhains ke liye daulat ki lathi ki zaroorat hoti hai” from Khiladi  (1992), “Kar bhala to ho bhala” from Raja Babu  (1994) and “Nanga nahayega kya aur nichodega kya” from Dulhe Raja  (1998).

He considers that his best performances in positive roles came in  Sikander-e-Azam,  Kunwari,  Shaheed,  Jaadu Tona  and  Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. He disclosed in an interview that “My films with Rajesh Khanna are very special. Each of films showed different shades of my personality in villainous role.” When asked how he could continue so long in a cinematic career, he quoted “Although I came to be a hero, my films as a leading man flopped. Which was good in a way because a whole new world opened in front of me. There were so many more roles I could do. When I established myself as a villain it could continue for years.”

After 1996, he appeared as a villain in very few films. He took up positive character roles from 1996 and started getting more positive role s from 2007. His screen space got reduced in the films after 2007.

Prem Chopra remains one of the strongest pillars of Bollywood. Prem Chopra’s versatility as an actor is extraordinary. “The villain changed through the decades, reflecting the socio-economic circumstances of each era. He recalls  in Prem Naam hai mera, Prem Chopra, a memoir written by his daughter, Rakita Nanda.

Photo courtesy Google. Excerpts taken from Google