A statue of a renowned Indian filmmaker, the late Yash Chopra, was unveiled in Interlaken, Switzerland.  The 350 kg statue, which now stands in Kurssaal Garden in the central Swiss town of Interlaken, canton Bern, is a replica of the one in Chopra’s film studio in Mumbai and was unveiled by his widow, Pamela Chopra. Chopra’s daughter-in-law, the Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji – who also featured in his films, such as the highly successful Veer-Zara – also attended the ceremony. The event was organised by Interlaken Tourism and Jungfrau Railways. Chopra, who opened a legacy of South Asian tourists flocking to Switzerland, loved to spend time in the country besides shooting his movies.

Did You Know?

• Yash Chopra was an Indian film director, script writer and film producer, predominantly working in Hindi cinema.
• In 1969, Chopra founded his own production company, Yash Raj Films, and launched it with Daag: A Poem of Love (1973), a successful melodrama about a polygamous man.
• His success continued in the seventies, with some of Indian cinema’s most successful and iconic films, including the action thriller Deewar (1975), which established Amitabh Bachchan as the leading actor in Bollywood; the romantic drama Kabhie Kabhie (1976) and Trishul (1978).
• Chopra founded and was chairman of the motion picture production and distribution company Yash Raj Films, which ranks as India’s biggest production company as of 2006, as well as Yash Raj Studios.
• Chopra’s career has spanned more than five decades and 50 films; he is considered one of the leading filmmakers in the history of Hindi cinema. He came to be known as the “King of Romance” of the Indian cinema.