Who does not know the immortal line, Prem naam hai mera—Prem Chopra? The sole sentence his villainous character got to speak in his brother-in-law Raj Kapoor’s cult classic, Bobby, got Prem Chopra eternal adulation of the kind many longer roles did not.
On September 23, Prem Chopra turned 90. Easily among the handful of the topmost iconic villains in the industry, Chopra has shown his versatility too—he has excelled in comedy, been exceptional in drama, and has done a few hero’s roles too. What’s more, he has even sung a song in a film (Mera Muqaddar)! His secret: he is in ‘prem’ (love) with both his work and his fitness. At 90, the man looks a sprightly 60, not a day older.
When this writer messaged him, wishing him at least a century, it took seconds for him to respond with a warm ‘Thank You’ message. Certain memories of his will never fade. When I first met him, he was down with conjunctivitis and was wearing dark glasses. He told me that a mighty baddie like him had fallen victim to a mere villainous virus! When I did a few video interviews, he was the first I chose among the entire film clan.
His stories were amazing, the raconteur in him clearly brilliant. Having worked with all the greats—Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and more—in a career that began with the PunjabiChaudhary Karnail Singh in 1960 and, as of now, his latest film has been Animal in 2023, he can regale you with stories and anecdotes, both funny and emotional, at the drop of a hat.
And the word ‘hat’ reminds me: it is this thespian who really pioneered the trend of villains who had peculiar traits, physical characteristics and even sartorial kinks.
Of course, Prem has also acted internationally (Line of Descent, Heart Land, Honor Killing and more), in Punjabi movies and on Indian television as well. He has enacted shows named after him on stage, in which he entertained people even through songs, and his famous one-liners like the one above or ‘Main woh balaa hoon, jo sheesha se patthar ko todta hoon (I am the glass that shatters a stone)’ from Souten and Nangaa nahaayega kya aur nichodega kya (What will a naked person bathe in, and what will they squeeze out?) from Dulhe Raja are endemically popular.
In over 350 films, his own favorites include, besides Bobby, Kati Patang, Purab Aur Paschim, Do Raaste, Do Anjaane, Himmat, Aap Aaye Bahaar Ayee, Upkar, Kranti, Beimaan, Aas Paas and as a comic or a character artiste, later films like Farz Aur Kaanoon, Prem Tapasya and Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. His most ‘vicious’ role, he says, was in the film Oonche Log (1985), wherein he ‘suffocated’ the character of Pradeep Kumar to death.
Prem, initially, was employed in the circulation department of The Times of India newspaper in Mumbai and did not have the confidence to leave his job until Teesri Manzil (late 1966) and Upkar (1967) despite early hits like Woh Kaun Thi?, Shaheed and Sikander-E-Azam.
To sum up, here I quote some of his unforgettable remarks to me.
“I came when the industry swore by so many big stars. They gave so many hits. Then their films began to flop and producers stopped signing them. But over 60 years after I started out, I am still working!”
“People are tolerating me still for only one reason—I am honest to the core in my work. Dedication, devotion and discipline keep me going. I have always believed that only good work gets you more assignments. I never believed in building up contacts, networking or manipulating. No one’s here to do charity, the game is commercial and if you are not able to deliver, you are out. Has every child of a big-name film celebrity made it in cinema?”
“And yes, I am also my worst critic. When people are busy praising me, I am looking at my shortcomings. Another reason could be that actors, by definition, must be able to do everything. This is why I did comic roles, like in Prem Tapasya. I also played a comic villain, essayed soft emotional roles, breezy characters and everything else. I was hero in a few films and even sang songs.”
“The directors of the older era were much more passionate, which is why they made great, original films that would be loved by centuries, like Mughal-E-Azam, Ganga Jamuna, Awara, Upkar or Bobby. They would be obsessed with their films. Today’s directors are technically more knowledgeable but less amenable to suggestions. In our time, everyone would make suggestions—Ravee Nagaich, for example, loved my idea of a glass eye in Kaala Sona. On the good side, there is freedom from branding today, with heroes doing villainy and comedy and no actor being branded. We are going the way Hollywood has always been.”
“After Do Raaste, my ‘negative’ pairing with Bindu too was a sensational success. After a producer told a distributor that his new film had the superstar Rajesh Khanna, he was asked, ‘Yes, but do you have Prem Chopra and Bindu?’”
“My friendships with Manoj Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Rakesh Roshan, besides the late Dilip Kumar-saab and Rishi Kapoor, were personal. And I was friends with all my heroines. You forget that I used to rape all of them on screen! But on a serious note, I never misbehaved with them and have been brought up to respect them!”
