Entertainment News Desk – The dreaded villain of the past, Prem Chopra, has turned 89. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Prem Chopra was fond of acting and he came to Mumbai to fulfill his dream. On his birthday, we are going to tell you some things related to Prem Chopra, which perhaps very few people know. Let us tell you that after the partition, Prem Chopra’s family came to Shimla. He did his schooling here and then graduated from Punjab University. During his studies, he used to work in plays occasionally to fulfill his passion for acting. Although his father wanted him to become a doctor or an IAS officer, he went against his father and came to Mumbai to try his luck in films.
Prem Chopra wanted to become a hero
Prem Chopra, who came to Mumbai with the desire to become a hero, used to stay in a guest house in Colaba in the early days. During this time, he used to visit studios to ask for work in films. However, he did not get any response for a long time. When he did not get work in films even after a lot of struggle, he took up a job in a newspaper office to meet his expenses. He used to look after the circulation department in the newspaper office and used to go on about 20 tours in a month and used to go to film studios on the remaining days.
I got my first role while traveling in a train
One day while travelling in a train, Prem Chopra met a stranger. He asked if he wanted to work in films. Chopra nodded in agreement and went with the stranger to Ranjit Studio, where the producer of Chaudhary Karnail Singh was looking for a hero. Punjabi film producer Jagjit Sethi gave Chopra a break in the Punjabi film Chaudhary Karnail Singh. His first film was a Hindu-Muslim romantic love story set against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan partition. This film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Punjabi. Prem Chopra was paid Rs 2500 for working in this film. After this, he got a chance to work in some more Punjabi films. At the same time, he got small roles in Hindi films like Woh Kaun Thi, Shaheed, Teesri Manzil. Prem Chopra appeared in a negative role in Manoj Kumar’s film Upkaar. After this, he started getting offers for villain roles.
A dialogue from the film Bobby made Prem Chopra famous
After getting continuous film offers, Prem Chopra left his job in the newspaper. He played negative roles in films like Kati Patang, Do Raste, Anjaana, Do Anjaane, Waris Doli, Prem Pujari, Pagla Kahin Ka, Himmat, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Hulchul, Dastaan. Prem Chopra played a small role in the 1973 film Bobby directed by Raj Kapoor. His dialogue in this film Prem naam hai mera Prem Chopra… became very popular and because of this he became famous. After this he started being counted among the dreaded villains of Bollywood. In that era, he started competing with Amrish Puri, Amjad Khan, Shakti Kapoor, Kader Khan.
People started considering Prem Chopra as a real life villain
Prem Chopra became so popular playing the role of a villain that people started considering him a villain in real life as well. In an interview, Prem Chopra had told that after watching his films and because of his negative character, people started getting scared of him in real life. Many times it used to happen that people used to hide their wives after seeing him. However, when they talked to him, they felt that they were also like him. Prem Chopra worked in about 380 films in his 60-year film career. He has worked in many films including Kati Patang, Do Raste, Daag, Chhupa Rustam, Baadebaaz, Tyag, Nafrat, Gehri Chaal, Daastan, Gora Aur Kala, Crime, Daag, Benaam, Prem Nagar, Vachan, Kala Sona, Mehbooba, Paapi, Des Pardes, Trishul, Kala Patthar, Naseeb, Kranti, Desh Premi, Betaab, Sautan, Khiladi, Prem Rog, Raja Babu, Bunty Aur Babli 2, Animal. He was also seen in the web series Showtime which came this year.
