New Delhi, Oct 22: He worked with Ashok Kumar to Shah Rukh Khan and Mala Sinha to Anushka Sharma in his over five-decade glorious cinematic journey, and the title of Yash Chopra's new film, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", summed up the ace filmmaker's philosophy - making path-breaking movies till he could.
His death Sunday came weeks before the release of "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", which he had announced would be his last directorial venture. The romantic saga is coming out Nov 13, but he will not be around to see it.
Chopra, who turned 80 Sep 27, was born in Lahore in 1932 and eventually came to Mumbai after Partition.
In an interview some days before he was hospitalised with dengue, Chopra told Shah Rukh: "My mother said do what your heart says. She gave me Rs.200 and said my blessings are with you. Go ahead and don't worry."
He also said whatever he was because of his late brother and filmmaker B.R. Chopra, whom he assisted at the beginning of his Bollywood career.
"I'm sitting here just because of B.R. Chopra and no one else. I wanted to fly on my own wings," he said in that interview.
He admitted that it was not easy to start Yash Raj Films, his production house that has been delivering blockbuster hits, in 1971.