'King of Romance' Yash Chopra no more

80-year-old Chopra, whose upcoming and last film was rather ironically titled `Jab Tak Hain Jaan' (till there is life), was admitted to Lilavati hospital here on October 13 with dengue and has remained in the hospital. He celebrated his 80th birthday on September 27.

Chopra is survived by wife Pamela and two sons filmmaker Aditya Chopra and actor-producer Uday Chopra.

The veteran producer-director had attended Amitabh Bachchan's 70th birthday party with wife Pamela on October 10. It was Chopra's "Deewar" which established megastar Bachchan as the "angry young man".

Although he began his five-decade career making different kinds of films, Chopra is today known mostly for the romantic films like 'Silsila', 'Chandni', 'Dilwale Duhania Le Jayenge', 'Mohabbatein' and 'Veer Zara'.

The term 'Yash Chopra romance' is used to typify the kind of romantic films the filmmaker made in Bollywood.

"He(Chopra) passed away due to dengue and multiple organ failure today evening. He was in the ICU," Dr Sudhir, spokesperson of Lilavati hospital told PTI.

"With deep regret we announce the sad demise of Mr Yash Chopra, who breathed his last at around 5:30 PM today. Details of his last rites will be communicated a little later," Yash Raj Films spokesperson said.

On his 80th birthday, Chopra, who directed his first film 'Dhool Ka Phool' way back in 1959, announced retirement from direction. He had followed the footsteps of his elder brother B R Chopra in film making.

In an interaction with actor Shah Rukh Khan, Chopra said "This ('Jab Tak Hai Jaan') will be my last film as a director. There are some calculations that you make with your heart and now I have decided that I won't direct a film after this. I think the time has come for me to take a back seat now." 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' starring Sharukh Khan is due to be released on November 13. (MORE)