Indian filmmaker B.R. Chopra dies

MUMBAI, India - Veteran Indian filmmaker B.R. Chopra, whose Bollywood career spanned five decades, died at home on Wednesday. He was 94.

Ailments relating to old age caused Chopra's death, said Monika Bhattacharya, a spokeswoman for movie studio Yash Raj Films, run by his younger brother.

Chopra was known for tackling socially relevant themes in Hindi language films.

One of his evergreen classics, 1957's "Naya Daur" ("New Path"), focused on life in a sleepy village five decades ago, resisting replacement of a bullock-cart by a bus as a means of public transport.

The movie was re-released in India last year in color with digital sound.

Chopra's movies were peppered with regular Bollywood plots of mistaken identity or families driven apart by natural disasters.

He also took on issues considered taboo in a conservative India, such as a woman's rape and extramarital affairs in movies such as "Insaf Ka Tarazoo" ("The Scales of Justice") and "Gumrah" ("Misled").

Chopra turned to television in 1988 and directed one of the most popular Indian mythological serials, "Mahabharat," based on a Hindu epic about the battle between good and evil.

He won several awards for his work.

Chopra is survived by a son and a daughter. He was to be cremated Wednesday in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, Bhattacharya said.

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