The much-talked-about Netflix docu-series The Romantics, which is a tribute to the legacy of Yash Chopra, YRF, and its cultural impact on India and Indians for the past 50 years, was released on Feb 14 to unanimous acclaim and love. In the docu-series, Aditya Chopra speaks about how he had to get rid of his Western sensibilities by throwing away English song CDs to focus on becoming a Hindi film director!Aditya Chopra said, “I think was 14 or 15, I was watching a movie, and the film was a direct copy of an English film I had seen. And strangely I felt that this is the filmmaker that I’m going to become and it scared me because I was not watching anything Indian, I was watching a lot of Hollywood movies. I was actually listening to only English music.”
Recommended Read: The Romantics Review: Through tales of Chandni & Dilwale, Smriti Mundhra tells Silsila of Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra in this Valentine's Day gift
He added, “I realised I’m never going to be able to connect to the common man because I’m so away from him. So I started to force myself into becoming more desi in a strange way. I used to have a huge drawer of English CDs. Bruce Springsteen, Wham, you know that kind. I remember I just picked up all my CDs and I threw them away!”
Adi further said, “I went to the music store and I bought just whichever were the latest films coming, the musical albums. So, this was my induction to myself saying, I’m going to induct myself into India.” The visionary filmmaker also speaks about his idea about India and Indians which makes him inspired to make movies.
Aditya said, “I think Indian Cinema represents Indians and Indians as people are people who constantly aspire to be more than they are. I think my dad represented that. A person who came from nowhere and when he gets the opportunity, he wants to show his fellow Indians, a world which is better.”
From Aamir Khan to Salman Khan, from Shah Rukh Khan to Ranbir Kapoor, from Amitabh Bachchan to Ranveer Singh, from Rani Mukerji to Hrithik Roshan, from Katrina Kaif to Anushka Sharma, the mega-stars and icons of Hindi cinema have come together and spoken about Yash Chopra and YRF’s contribution to Indian cinema in The Romantics.
The Romantics has been directed by Oscar & Emmy-nominated filmmaker Smriti Mundhra, who returns to Netflix after the phenomenal success of Indian Matchmaking and the Never Have I Ever franchise.
Netflix, in this four-part docu-series, will also feature 35 leading personalities from the film industry, who have closely worked with YRF through its 50-year glorious existence. Interestingly, the reclusive head of the iconic Yash Raj Films, Aditya Chopra, was also coaxed into recording his first on-camera interview for ‘The Romantics’! His insights about YRF and the Hindi film industry in this docu-series is a huge highlight for the film fraternity, cinephiles & Hindi cinema audience at large.
Netflix released The Romantics on Valentine’s Day, Feb 14, as a tribute to Yash Chopra, who is regarded as the ‘Father of Romance’ in India because of his iconic romantic films like Silsila, Lamhe, Kabhi Kabhie, Veer-Zaara, Dil To Pagal Hai, Chandni, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, etc.
YRF is currently at an all-time high as their latest release Pathaan, the fourth film of YRF’s Spy Universe is breaking all records at the global box office. Pathaan is now the number one Hindi film worldwide and has become the biggest all-time blockbuster in the history of Hindi cinema with a worldwide gross collection currently at 1000 crore.
YRF is home to some of the biggest blockbusters that Indian cinema has ever witnessed like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, War, Sultan, Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Mohabbatein, and Dhoom franchise, to name a few. It has also produced landmark content forward iconic hits like Chak De! India, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Mardaani, Band Baaja Baaraat, etc.
