New Delhi: Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday remembered filmmaker Yash Chopra’s wife, Pamela Chopra, through his blog and recalled the “music sittings and homely get togethers” he spent with Chopras. Pamela Chopra passed away on Thursday.
Amitabh took to his blog and wrote: “The first days are ever a day of expectation and unknown elements .. and the first day today was no different .. the look the people the crew the work it self all alien and in a wonder .. and the topping , the very first scene of the film and a demanding appearance ..”
“In the middle of the efforts made to achieve .. comes the sudden news of the passing of Pamela Chopra, wife of Yash Chopra .. and life comes to a standstill.”
“So much to have spent with her and the filmmaking and the music sittings and the outdoors and the homely get togethers .. all gone in a breath ..”
Amitabh added: “And one by one they all leave us .. all left with the pleasant times spent ..And after this ordeal of the first day .. a quick visit to Yash ji’s home and meeting the family and reliving all those years of the past ..life is so unpredictable and tough.”
Pamela Chopra was ailing for a couple of weeks and was admitted to a private hospital for treatment where she breathed her last. She is survived by her two sons – Aditya Chopra, film-maker who is married to actress Rani Mukherjee, and actor-producer Uday Chopra.
Pamela, a cousin of the well-known actress and current TV anchor Simi Garewal, wed Yash Chopra in 1970. Yash was the younger brother of the illustrious director B.R. Chopra, a Dadasaheb Phalke Awardee.
Yash Chopra, also a Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, died of dengue disease in Mumbai in October 2012 at 80.
After getting married, Pamela Chopra started singing in Hindi and Punjabi. She is best known for the upbeat songs “Main sasural nahin jaoongi” (Chandni, 1989), “Banno ki aayegi baraat” (Aaina, 1993), “Ghar aaja pardesi” (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, 1995), “Surkh jode ki ye jaggamahat’ (Kabhie Kabhie, 1976), a courtesan song ‘Idhar aa sitamgar’ (Sawaal, 1982), a qawwali ‘Aashiq ho to aisa ho’ and the sombre ‘Uske khel nirale’ (both from Noorie, 1979), ‘ Ja re behna ja’ (Trishul, 1978).
She sang solos and duets for a number of well-known music composers, primarily for films released under the family name, including the late Mohammed Zahur Hashmi “Khayyam,” Rajesh Roshan, Shiv-Hari, Jatin-Lalit, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen, and others.
Pamela had other roles too, like co-writer for ‘Kabhie Kabhie’, producer for ‘Aaina’, Associate Producer for one of Bollywood’s biggest superhits ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, and also for ‘Mohabbatein’, ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’, ‘Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai’, ‘Veer Zara’, co-producer and writer of ‘Dil To Paagal Hai’, and the dress designer for ‘Silsila’ and ‘Sawaal’.
She was a trained dancer and once made a fleeting on-screen appearance alongside her late spouse in the song “Ek Duuje Ke Vaaste” (Dil To Paagal Hai).