Pamela Chopra, Yash Chopra’s wife, and Aditya Chopra’s mother passed away at the age of 74. Here’s the official confirmation.
Mumbai: Pamela Chopra, filmmaker Aditya Chopra, and Uday Chopra’s mother died on Thursday morning in Mumbai. She was 74 when she breathed her last at Mumbai’s Leelavati Hospital. She was admitted to the hospital for a long time and was put on a ventilator on Wednesday. Chopra, the wife of the master filmmaker late Yash Chopra, was a great influence in the entire foundation of Yash Chopra Films, one of India’s largest film production houses. A few weeks back, she was seen in the Netflix documentary ‘The Romantics’ celebrating her husband’s legacy and explaining his contribution to the world of Indian cinema.
Taking to Instagram, the official handle of Yash Chopra Films announced: “With heavy hearts, the Chopra family would like to inform that Pamela Chopra, 74, passed away this morning. Her cremation took place at 11 am today in Mumbai. We are grateful for your prayers and the family would like to request privacy in this moment of deep sadness and reflection (sic).”
PAMELA CHOPRA’S EARLY LIFE
Pamela was a playback singer and a great inspiration behind all the maverick romantic numbers Yash Chopra included in his hit Bollywood movies over the years. She sang songs for Chopra’s film Kabhie Kabhie (1976) amd Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002). The daughter of an Indian Army official, she was the cousin of actor and chat show host Simi Garewal. She married the director in 1970. The couple welcomed their first child Aditya in 1971 and Uday in 1973. Pamela was also a Bharatnatyam dancer but she never performed in public.
PAMELA CHOPRA-YASH CHOPRA’S LOVE STORY
In an old interview with Rediff, Pamela had talked about the first time she met Yash Chopra. She mentioned that it was during a Star Cricket show in Delhi that she saw him first. She recalled, “My father, being a military officer, had easy access, so he got us three passes. Yash was seated just a few rows in front of us. My cousins pointed him out to me. Yash turned around and saw us. My cousins were very pretty and you know, he had an eye for pretty girls, so he kept turning around throughout the match. But we did not meet or talk to each other”.
She went on to reveal that she first talked to the man during an event in Mumbai where Yash was also present with his family. It was his niece’s wedding Sangeet. “I met him very briefly at first. He was too busy trying to convince Hema Malini to do a film. He and Hema were on the balcony the whole time. He came in only when the singing started. I was singing. He came up to me and complimented me on my singing. That was it”, she remembered.
May her soul rest in peace!