Bollywood and Yash Raj Films: the back story

About Bollywood and Yash Raj Films: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Mumbai Editorial Team

Regional Editor, South Asia: Tara de la Motte

Indian cinema began in 1913 with Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra (the Government of India’s Press Information Bureau), and Mumbai is the home of Hindi film. One family company, Yash Raj Films, founded by Yash Chopra in 1970, made many of the love stories the world now calls Bollywood.

From Phalke to Film City

Raja Harishchandra, the first Indian feature film, was made by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913. The state’s great studio complex in Goregaon, Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, is named after him: Film City opened in 1977 and has 16 studios and 78 outdoor locations (Film City).

Yash Chopra

Yash Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 and died on 21 October 2012. He began as an assistant to B. R. Chopra, then directed Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Dharmputra (1961) and Waqt (1965), which Yash Raj Films calls India’s first true multi-starrer, followed by Ittefaq and Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969). Outside his own company he also directed Deewaar (1975) and Trishul (1978) (Yash Raj Films, “Yash Chopra – The Legend”).

DDLJ completed 1,000 weeks at Maratha Mandir on 12 December 2014: in Yash Raj Films’ words, the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema.

In 1970 he founded Yash Raj Films, which has since made more than 80 films. For it he directed Daag (1973), Kabhi Kabhie (1976), Kaala Patthar (1979), Silsila (1981), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), Darr (1993), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Veer-Zaara (2004) and, last of all, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, released on 13 November 2012 (Yash Raj Films).

The King of Romance

Yash Raj Films calls him the King of Romance. He took his camera to Switzerland, Holland, Germany and the United Kingdom, and in May 2016 the Swiss government unveiled a bronze statue of him (Yash Raj Films).

DDLJ

Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, released on 20 October 1995 with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, completed 1,000 weeks at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir cinema on 12 December 2014. A statue of its lovers, Raj and Simran, was unveiled in Leicester Square, London, on 4 December 2025, and a stage musical of the film, Come Fall in Love, had its premiere in Manchester on 29 May 2025 (Yash Raj Films, Milestones).

Spies, thieves and the next generation

The company’s later hits run from the Dhoom films (2004, 2006 and 2013) to what it calls the YRF Spy Universe, which began with Ek Tha Tiger in 2012 and continued with War 2 on 14 August 2025. Its smaller films have been honoured too: Dum Laga Ke Haisha won the National Film Award for Best Hindi Feature Film, with awards for its lyricist, Varun Grover, and its singer, Monali Thakur (Yash Raj Films). Shah Rukh Khan’s own company, Red Chillies Entertainment, has made films from Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007) to Jawan (2023).

Seeing it for yourself

The National Museum of Indian Cinema on Pedder Road tells the whole story, from Phalke onwards; Film City’s official website links to its tours; and our Bollywood stars guide has the films of the great stars, with their release dates.

Our advice: watch Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge before you come, and visit the National Museum of Indian Cinema while you are here.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Bollywood and Yash Raj Films: the back story before you go.