Prem Chopra calls late directors K Asif and Raj Kapoor 'geniuses'; says 'They don't make filmmakers like them anymore'

Veteran actor Prem Chopra recently talked about the struggles faced by Raj Kapoor, K Asif, and Dilip Kumar in their careers in Bollywood and how they became luminaries with their passion.

Chopra called K Asif a poor man while saying that his 1960 film ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ took him a long 16 years to finish. The actor said in an interview with Zoom that Asif invested a significant amount of money and time in the project, enduring numerous challenges throughout the filming process. After all such hurdles, he could not even think about abandoning the project.

According to Chopra, the passion in them to make the film was such that if everything was sold and only one dress remained at home, they would even sell that dress to complete the film. Prem emphasized that there are no filmmakers in the industry like them.

Prem Chopra had worked with Raj Kapoor in his 1973 film ‘Bobby’. While calling Raj and Asif 'geniuses’, he recollected the incident when Raj went bankrupt while making ‘Mera Naam Joker’. The film could not entertain audiences then, but later was considered one of the cult classics in India. Raj had to sell everything he had.


He emphasized that it was a modern and fine piece of art which didn’t receive the success it deserved. Even after facing tremendous financial issues including the mortgage of RK Studios and selling family properties, he didn’t give up on his love for filmmaking.

In ‘Bobby’ starring Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, Chopra also played a role, and he called this film a great vision. The film was a massive success and introduced new actors Rishi and Dimple. However, Raj never acted like he had faced massive failure but continued making films with love and passion.
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