A villain by choice

The good old days

His first film in the chronological sense was Tangewali (1955), directed by Lekhraj Bhakri, in a fleeting appearance. Recognition for Prem Chopra came with the Punjabi film Chaudhuri Karnail Singh (one of his three 1960 releases), which also won him a National award.

Since then, Chopra has literally been in prem (love) with his work, doing a few films as hero in the beginning — his last tryst as a romantic lead was opposite Zeenat Aman in her debut film Hulchul (1971)! While he had his greatest success as a villain, he also has done sympathetic supporting roles and comic characters and worked in English films as well as television serials! “I was approached for a web series recently,” he says. “But they needed 25 days and the pay was not good enough for that length of time.”

A flashback

Time, like with so many legends, is a highly-valued asset for the actor. As we chat in the study of his terrace flat on the 14th floor, Chopra stresses, “You may waste your own time, but have no right to waste that of others. I am always punctual, whether at shoots or events. There are so many stars who think that coming late signifies status.”

Looking a sprightly 60 at past 80 years, Chopra also believes in keeping fit, stating, “In this industry, on-screen or behind the screen, you never retire, so fascinatingly addictive is this profession. Either you become physically unfit to keep working, like our greats Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, or stop getting work.”

Chopra’s going strong for over 400 films, at being primarily evil, loathsome or lecherous on-screen, is attributed by him to his complete honesty and hard work. “Work is God! I believe in total sincerity,” he declares. “I never discriminate between a small film and a big one. I am honest to my role, and I believe that, just as it was in the 1950s, even now it is the story that works. The decorations brought in by technology do help a good story, never a bad one.”

Chopra has also been doing a lot of social work through events for charity, and even through cinema: “My new film Udanchoo is a comic thriller with a message. I play a guruji who deals in black money. I have also done a film called Let Us Change, on the importance of environment. I play a man who is considered an incarnation of Sardar Patel.”

Not less than a 100 trophies and mementos adorn his study, apart from dozens of jubilee plaques and a collage of his pictures, all souvenirs of a life of passion in whatever he did — which forms an interesting story by itself.

Hailing from Shimla, Chopra was one of six siblings, including a sister. “My father was not rich, so he had told us that he would take care of our education, but after that, we would have to find a job by ourselves. I was involved in dramatics during my college days, and so I decided to try my luck in films here. However, my father declared that I was crazy to join an insecure profession, and advised me to look for a steady job while I tried my luck.”

Thanks to his degree, Chopra found a good job with The Times Of India’s circulation department. Alongside, he would look for film openings, though his circulation job involved travelling for almost half the month. “I was quite good looking and even got a few films as a hero,” he smiles.

Chopra, after his first three hits as character artiste, Woh Kaun Thi?, Shaheed and Teesri Manzil, began to get a lot of films, since there was a vacuum with Pran trying out character roles, and no other villain making an impact. “My hit streak as villain established me in negative roles. But I left my job only after we were halfway through Upkar, for which I won my second National award.”

Interestingly, Chopra reveals that after Upkar he actually started getting offers as a hero, but decided to remain a character actor. “Heroes have a smaller innings unless they are really good, in which case they too shift to character roles and sustain. And almost every story revolves around the leads and the villain. That is why in today’s films many heroes try to do negative roles. It showcases their versatility and adds years to their careers,” he stresses.

Performer at heart

Chopra has a surprising side to him — as a live performer. People love watching him sing, dance and recite his famous one-liners. “Not many know that I even recorded a fairly popular song, “Haaye hungama, loot gaya mama”, in a small film called Mera Muqaddar. I had given the music director the tune,” he smiles. Yet, he had no particular desire or the reverse to enact songs on screen, though he got songs in some films like Shaheed, Lagan (1971), Nafrat and others. But his ‘dialogues’ like “Nangaa nahaayega kya aur nichodega kya” (Dulhe Raja) and “Main woh balaa hoon jo sheeshe se patthar ko todta hoon” (Souten) are now cult.
In the barrage of films that he did, Chopra particularly remembers Himmat, Keemat, Kaala Sona, Do Raaste, Purab Aur Paschim, Kati Patang, Do Anjaane, Beimaan, Prem Tapasya (he played the positive role of a doctor), Farz Aur Kanoon (a comic role) and of course Bobby.

“Sometimes I accepted brief roles for certain reasons. I acted in Bobby only because Raj Kapoor-saab was my brother-in-law — our wives are sisters — and he promised me that I would never regret doing the small cameo. With just that one-liner, “Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra” (now also the title of my autobiography), I got the mileage and popularity that would not have been possible even if I had spent millions in self-promotion.”

Chopra admits that there are some positive changes in Hindi cinema apart from the technology. “People are more emancipated, as there are other media besides cinema. It is not necessary to be stereotyped or to maintain images, as it was in our times when films were the only low-cost entertainment. Films would be made then in 2 or 3 years, now they are wrapped up in 2 or 3 months, with finance and dates arranged beforehand. Today, we work on bound scripts, which never happened in our times. These are healthy signs.”

However, Chopra states that passion for cinema seems to be missing. “There is compromise in content, relationships have become selfish, and negative publicity, gossip and competitiveness rule. Where is the obsession? I remember Manoj Kumar wanting a crowd of 5,000 for a scene in Kranti. When his assistants could manage only 500 on the day, he cancelled the shoot, though it meant a huge loss for him.”