★★★★✰
Cinema has been an integral part of South Asian culture for generations, in a subcontinent that’s brought out everything from butterflies-in-your-stomach romances to heart-wrenching dramas. Billions of people have grown up watching and loving these films, so it seems only right to pay a tribute to the filmmakers who’ve brought them to life. This is what Netflix’s The Romantics, directed by Smriti Mundhra (executive producer of Indian Matchmaking, 2020-present), is to Yash Raj Chopra.
Over the course of four episodes and with over 30 interviews from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Rani Mukherji, Shahrukh Khan and perhaps most surprising of all, Yash Chopra’s very private son, Aditya Chopra we see the story of Yash Chopra and Yash Raj Films (YRF) unfold. From seeing how his early work was influenced by the partition in works like Dharmputra (Son of Dharma, 1961) to his initial shift to romance through Waqt (Time, 1965). We learn about the impact economic liberalisation in India made on Hindi cinema and why he decided to build YRF Studios in 2005.
The series doesn’t just focus on Yash Chopra but also his sons, Aditya and Uday Chopra, who give extensive interviews about their upbringing and the roles they now play in the Hindi cinema industry. The former follows in his father’s path, becoming a filmmaker who, both individually and alongside his father, has directed and produced instant classic movies, most notably Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The One With The Heart Will Take The Bride, 1995) — one of the most popular Hindi movies of all time and a movie that still played in Mumbai cinemas even in 2022, from which we saw a great deal of behind-the-scenes footage in the series.
The other interviews tell us stories of how Yash Chopra’s movies gave actors their most iconic characters, namely Amitabh Bachchan as the “angry young man” in Deewaar (Wall, 1975). We also get an insight into how YRF Films began giving non-film family actors their big breaks, for instance, with Ranveer Singh through Band Baaja Baaraat (Band, Music and the Groom’s Procession, 2010), which is something that’s particularly important in an industry almost completely run by film families and nepotism.
To tell this rich story, The Romantics makes amazing use of archival footage and interviews to set the scene and explain the details with minimal off-camera questions unless it was completely necessary to add suspense, adding more authenticity to what was being said. By blending these elements together with evident love from the interviewees for Yash Raj Chopra and colourful scenes from movies that were being referred to, it tells a beautiful story of why and how Yash and Aditya Chopra created the films they did, why they thought they were important in that specific era, and a general history of Hindi cinema that most don’t know about. In particular, it was incredibly important how the series explained the background of the term ‘Bollywood’, a history I was completely unaware of. We learn how it derived from the Western film industry calling Hindi cinema a ‘B-list’ version of Hollywood and was a way of looking down at the movies made in India despite their huge success worldwide.
Despite delving into Hindi cinema’s wonderful history, here are a few topics that the series missed out on expanding on. Firstly, while nepotism (a very sensitive topic in the industry) was spoken about, actors and film personalities still failed to recognise how being born into a film family makes it easier to break into Hindi cinema. Aditya Chopra spoke of how “only the audience can decide” if someone will make it in the industry or not, giving the example of how his brother never made it as a popular actor in India. He goes on to explain how nowadays, “you go to a casting director and if you are good, you’ll get the role.” Despite that, he ignores the reality that being born into a family with such an influence on the industry makes it easier to find and go to a casting director in the first place. Not to mention that you’ll get more chances to ‘make it’ if you fail the first time – as was the case with his brother.
There was also minimal mention of the work of the singers, songwriters and music directors in Hindi cinema. The single time music was mentioned at all in the series was through Pamela Chopra, Yash Chopra’s wife, and was solely focused on her interest in music. This is particularly lacking as music is a cornerstone of South Asian cinema and is what makes movies from the subcontinent so unique. Without the music, many movies, not just from YRF but the industry altogether, would not be as popular as they are today so ignoring the work of the music team makes the series seem incomplete.
Despite these issues, The Romantics was a series that bundled nostalgia with a perfect mix of fresh information about the industry. It’s a must-watch for anyone who loves Hindi cinema and a chance to learn more about the films they love. For anyone who grew up with Hindi cinema, The Romantics is your chance to go back and reminisce. It’s also a fitting tribute to an iconic filmmaker who turned multiple generations of desis into romantics.
The Romantics is available to stream on Netflix now.
Words by Bahjat Noor Lodhi
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.