Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra cremated

Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra, who succumbed to dengue and multiple organ failure on Sunday evening, was cremated at the Chandanwadi Crematorium on Monday evening in the presence of a host of cinematic personalities, family members and people from other walks of life.

Chopra, who turned 80 on September 27 this year, died on Sunday at Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, nine days after being admitted to it with a complaint of dengue symptoms.

At the time of his admission to hospital, he was preparing for the release of his last directorial venture Jab Tak Hai Jaan starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.

Earlier, Chopra's body, covered with white flowers, was kept on stage number 3 of the Yash Raj Films studio since morning for people to come and pay homage. A huge black and white photo of the director was also there with several candles lit around it.

Son Aditya, Uday and actress Rani Mukerji were seen standing in front of the stage with moist eyes, while the family members and those from film fraternity were seen sitting behind.

A string of celebrities were seen entering the studio from both the front and back gates, guarded by policemen and security personnel owing to the large number of fans that had gathered outside.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Shahrukh Khan, Vidya Balan, Shahid with father Pankaj Kapoor and step mother Supriya Pathak, Parineeti Chopra, Sridevi with husband Boney Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Kajol with mother Tanuja and sister Tannisha, Tabu, Kabir Khan with wife Mini, Prem Chopra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vipul Shah, Abbas Mastan, Ramesh Sippy, Gulzar, Subhash Ghai, Shyam Benegal, Saroj Khan, David Dhawan, Resul Pukkotty, Imran Khan and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were among those who had come to pay their last respects.

Actors Rishi Kapoor, son Ranbir, Randhir Kapoor, Archana Puran Singh and husband Parmeet Sethi, Punit Malhotra and Varun Dhawan were also present.

On sunday night, several celebrities, including Salman Khan, John Abraham, Manish Malhotra, Priyanka Chopra, Sonu Nigam, Amitabh Bachchan with son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai visited the studio.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, members from the fashion industry and other film stars had also paid tribute to late filmmaker on Sunday.

Born on September 27, 1932 in Lahore, he was the youngest of eight children, one of whom was elder brother BR Chopra who became a director and producer. He came to Mumbai with Rs200 in his pocket and his mother's blessings to make a mark in films.

Chopra started his journey in the film industry as an assistant to I S Johar and then with his brother. With his brother's production house he made his directorial debut in 1959 with Dhool Ka Phool and directed iconic films like Dharamputra, Waqt and 'Ittefaq.

In 1973, he set up his own production company Yash Raj Films under which he made 'Daag'. Then he went on to make intense and action packed films like 'Deewar', 'Trishul', 'Kaala Patthar', 'Mashaal', 'Vijay'.

The filmmaker acquired fame for making larger than life multi-starrer films such as ‘Waqt’, ‘Daag’, ‘Kabhi Kabhie’, ‘Trishul’, ‘Silsila’, ‘Chandni’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Darr’ and ‘Veer Zaara’.