Yash Chopra and the unconventional family

 

Many critics of Yash Chopra have made the mistake of considering his movies to be regressive or superficial. I think it is important to really think about how his films were progressive for their time, and still today subtly push storytelling forward without much fanfare or self-congratulations. One of my favorite recurring motifs in Chopra's career is the unconventional family: adoption, blended families, single parents, mentorships. Almost every single film of his has some family which is outside the traditional nuclear family; his characters make their own family or pick up the pieces of a broken family. Often those characters who bring children into their families are seen as virtuous and idealized, while those who turn their backs on family are seen as villainous or at least temporarily misguided (with one stunningly modern exception). In some cases, the unconventional family isn't even remarked upon - just a part of life. 

I think some of this can be traced back to Yash Chopra working with his brother BR Chopra in the early days of the his career. BR Chopra of course was famous for his social issue dramas that held a mirror to Indian society and presented all types of people in contrast to other mainstream filmmakers of the time. As Yash Chopra started his own production company in the 1970s he adapted his brother's social-minded narrative into a more populist aesthetic. Even among the glamor and sophistication, Yash Chopra kept an eye towards sociopolitical themes. 

One thing I wish Chopra got more credit for is his casual, somewhat forward-thinking take on sex outside marriage. For example, Silsila is surprisingly empathetic towards infidelity in a loveless marriage, but still has duty win out over love. In contrast, Jab Tak Hai Jaan reverses that stating that making a selfish choice can be better for the family. In most cases, the characters who have sex are deeply in love and the act is presented as an act of love or one character is in love and the other is using them. The encounter usually ends in pregnancy (which might rankle some viewers, especially since abortion if an option is not chosen). But I don't think the sex itself is condemned. Instead I think Chopra is invested in the plight of women who get rejected by their baby's father and must carve out their own survival. Chopra instead condemns men, whose poor decisions lead to suffering that reverberates into the next generation (Daag, Dhool Ka Phool, Trishul, Parampara, Vijay for example). Generational pain is another pet theme for Chopra, whose films often features parents and grown children dealing with choices made decades ago. 

Sometimes adoption occurs because of some tragedy (Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer Zaara, Lamhe), and the adoption isn't even official but just the right thing to do. Or in some cases, like Darr or Chandni, we don't even know how or why an unconventional family was formed. It just is in the fabric of the film. Daag I'm pretty sure ends with a throuple raising a few kids. Dharmputra and Dhool Ka Phool utilize adoption to expose hypocrisy in Indian society. In Mashaal the father figure must relearn what he taught the young man he took in. Deewar places the virtuous single mother as the apex of the conflict between two brothers. Waqt has a family unwittingly reunited after a devastating natural disaster, adopted into new families or raised alone and interacting with each other unaware of their blood relation. 

I haven't mentioned Kabhi Kabhie yet, despite it being the main picture for this blog. I consider Kabhi Kabhie to be Yash Chopra on overdrive: all his favorite stars from that era and his favorite themes. This movie's got it all: premarital sex, pregnant women with dead fiances, generational pain, adoption, men realizing their hypocrisy about their wives' past all played out by Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee Gulzar, Shashi Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Neetu Singh, and Rishi Kapoor. I'm always stunned by the delicacy with which all of this is played out, with a refreshing modernity (especially Shashi Kapoor's character). 

Like many of Yash Chopra's movies, Kabhi Kabhie is about choices and how decisions, good and bad ones, have effects for years. Yash Chopra for all I know had a pretty standard family himself with Pamela Chopra, and his sons Aditya Chopra and Uday Chopra. I'm not sure why he was so fascinated and inspired by unconventional families. But to me they emphasize a filmmaker who pushes the envelope and is exploring people living beyond the norms of a rigid society.