Chopra, B(aldev) R(aj)

▪ 2009

      Indian filmmaker

born April 22, 1914, Punjab, British India

died Nov. 5, 2008, Mumbai [Bombay], India

was respected for producing and directing socially relevant Hindi-language films, including the musical Naya daur (1957), in which a village resists the advent of mechanized transport; Sadhna (1958), which dealt with prostitution; the murder mystery Kanoon (1960); Gumrah (1963), which addressed adultery and won an Indian National Film Award as best Hindi film; Hamraaz (1967), for which Chopra won the first Indian National Film Award for best director; and Insaf ka tarazu (1980), which focused on rape. In 1988 Chopra directed the popular television serial Mahabharat, based on the Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata. Chopra received the 1998 Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contributions to Indian cinema.

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