Was Yash Chopra really a progressive director?
Madhuri Dixit recently expressed her admiration for late filmmaker Yash Chopra. She called him a progressive director and said, "Yashji was a very progressive director and he always kept up with times." The actress also said that his women characters were also very progressive and important for the story. Taking a look at the filmography of him, it feels that Madhuri is right. Take a look at Veer-Zaara for instance. Two such well-written and powerful characters, played by Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherji, are the driving force of the narrative. Or his last film, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Despite Shah Rukh Khan, being the center stage. Both the female characters have a definite arc and characteristics in the film. Even in one of his oldest classics like 'Deewar', the roles of Nirupa Roy and Neetu Singh work as pillars, without whom the entire story cannot move forward. Throughout his career, Yash Chopra made films that mostly had strong and well-written female characters, which was a rare thing back then. Still, even the so-called 'edgy' filmmakers reduce the female actors to props. Something that Yash Chopra didn't do even in the 70s.