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Yash Raj Films (YRF) is one of the biggest production houses in the country. YRF has delivered some of the biggest hits of the Indian film industry, which started with 1973's Daag: A Poem of Love, featuring India's first superstar Rajesh Khanna. It is no secret that 'Yash Raj' in Yash Raj Films stands for eminent filmmaker Yash Chopra. However, could it be that 'Raj' may denote Rajesh Khanna?
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The Inception of Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj Chopra founded Yash Raj Films in 1970, and it was then that the journey of revolutionising Bollywood's idea of romance started. Before making his directorial debut with Daag under his own production house (YRF), Chopra worked under his brother Baldev Raj Chopra's banner, BR Films, and established himself as a promising director.
According to Gautam Chintamani's 'Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna', Yash Chopra wanted a fresh start, and he saw that beginning in Rajesh Khanna.
Daag starring Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee in the lead, was a phenomenal success. According to a section of the industry insiders, their rapport during the making of 'Daag' was so strong that they reportedly decided to co-produce the film.
'Raj' in Yash Raj Films Stands for Rajesh!
An excerpt from the 'Dark Star' reads, "The film also went on to create an urban legend that remains one of the Hindi film industry's most romanticised myths. According to a cross-section of people from within the industry, especially Khanna's close confidants, Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra had an unofficial agreement that 'Daag' would be a co-production between the two. Even though Yash Chopra, like his brother Baldev Raj Chopra, was officially Yash Raj Chopra, the presence of 'Raj' in Yash Raj Films banner is believed by many to stand for 'Rajesh'. (sic)
The project might not have taken shape without Khanna's involvement, even with Chopra's proven talent.
According to the biography, Chopra had started directing under BR Films and worked for over a decade.
"It was Khanna, along with producer Gulshan Rai, who helped Yash in more ways than one when he decided to go independent," the book states. (sic)
When Daag was beginning to be filmed, Khanna was at the peak of his popularity.
The biography further states, "The falling out between Khanna and Yash Chopra following 'Daag' that resulted in the actor not featuring in any of the director's ventures over the next decade and a half, and Khanna teaming up with BR Chopra, add to the mystery surrounding the whole issue. But the perceived veracity of his tale depends largely on which side one chooses to view the whole affair from, as the bigger the myth, the more sides a story tends to have in the world of Hindi cinema." (sic)
While the real reason behind the rift between them remains a mystery, Chopra hinted in later interviews that he didn't want to deal with Khanna's infamous tantrums. On the other hand, the superstar claimed that Chopra made him work for long hours unnecessarily.
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Chintamani writes, "Regardless, the success of 'Daag' should have ideally inspired a creative partnership between Rajesh Jhanna and Yash Chopra, who had seen a successful collaboration with 'Ittefaq' too. But that wasn't meant to be." (sic)
