Aditya Chopra was born on May 21st, 1971 to Yash and Pamela Chopra. His father is a legendary film maker. So quite obviously, Aditya Chopra was interested in films right from his childhood. When he was 10, he narrated a story to Javed Akhtar, his father’s friend and a famous script writer. Javed Akhtar was so impressed by his narration ability that he immediately told his wife Shabana Azmi, that he would become a great director one day.When Aditya Chopra finished his schooling, He joined his father as an assistant, and worked under him for films like Chandni (1989) and Aaina (1993). He also co-wrote Parampara (1993) along with Honey Irani.
Aditya Chopra got his break at the age of 24 when Yash Chopra decided to produce his script and grant him the director’s seat. The film was Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), and it went on to be a landmark film for Hindi cinema, making Aditya Chopra a name to reckon with. Aditya Chopra went on to write dialogues for his father’s film Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), which also was a huge success at the Box-office. 3 years later, He made his second film Mohabbatein (2000), which brought Shah Rukh khan and Amitabh Bachchan together on screen for the first time. It was a huge hit, but more was expected of a director whose last film was Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
Then, Aditya Chopra decided to become a producer and give a break to new talents under Yash Raj Films, his father’s production house. He produced Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai and Mujhse Dosti Karogi in 2002, which were directed by debutants Sanjay Gadhvi and Kunal Kohli respectively.2004 was a major year in Aditya Chopra’s career. He gave another chance to Kunal Kohli and Sanjay Gadhvi, who directed Hum Tum and Dhoom respectively for Yash Raj films. Both these films were huge hit and proved the power of Yash Raj films at Box-office year. He also wrote a film for his father, Veer Zaara (2004) and produced it. Veer Zaara was another big hit.
This proved Aditya Chopra’s credentials as an intelligent producer also. In 2005, Aditya Chopra continued to re-surrect talents by producing Shaad Ali’s Bunty aur Babli and Siddharth Raj anand’s Salaam Namaste. Both these films were success at Box-office. However, Neil ‘n’ Nikki, directed by Arjun Sablok was a flop. But Yash Raj films came back with two back to back super hits Fanaah (2006) and Dhoom 2 (2006). This really proved Aditya Chopra was the best in town when it came to marketing his films.
2007 wasn’t the best of years for Yash Raj Films although. 3 films out of 5 i.e. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle, produced by them were Flops, barring Tara Rum Pum (which did average business) and Chak De! India (which was a big hit). Chak De! India was not only a big hit, but also loved by all. Along with Taare Zameen Par, CDI won most of the awards of the year. However, 2008 also started on a bad note for Aditya.
Both Tashan (dir by Dhoom writer Victor) and Thoda Pyaar Thoida Magic (co-prod with Kunal Kohli) flopped badly, thus bringing down the reputation of Aditya and Yashraj films. But to cheer up things, Aditya announced his third directorial venture, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, starring Shah Rukh Khan. RNBDJ is slated for a Dec 08 release. Meanwhile, he is also supervising the production and marketing of Roadside Romeo, which is Yash Raj Films’ first animation film, and Bachna Ae Haseeno (directed by Siddharth Raj Anand).
Aditya Chopra has won many awards. He won Filmfare Awards for Best screenplay, Best dialogue and Best director for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Best dialogue award for Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and the awards for Best film, Best story and Best dialogue for Veer Zaara (2004). He is media shy, and avoids giving interviews to press. He can be seen appearing in the Opening Credits of Dil to Pagal Hai (1997) He used to maintain a notebook to write film reviews since he was 18.