ACTOR
Prem Chopra
52 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (52)
- #001
Prem Chopra is Raj Kapoor's brother-in-law. Chopra's wife is the younger sister of Raj Kapoor's wife, Krishna.
- #002
Prem Chopra is Sharman Joshi's father-in-law.
- #003
Prem Chopra is Vikas Bhalla's father-in-law.
- #004
Prem Chopra married Uma in 1969; she is the younger sister of Krishna Kapoor, Prem-Nath and Rajendranath. They had three daughters: Rakita, Punita and Prerana.
- #005
Prem Chopra was born in Lahore and grew up in Shimla. His father wanted him to become a doctor or an IAS officer, but Chopra went on to earn an undergraduate degree in arts at university and graduated from Punjab University.
- #006
In Raj Khosla's Woh Kaun Thi (1964), starring Sadhna and Manoj Kumar, Chopra gave a captivating performance that became a turning point in his career.
- #007
After Woh Kaun Thi, Prem Chopra gave excellent performances in Prithviraj Kapoor's starring vehicle Sikandar E Azam (1965), Manoj Kumar's Shaheed (1965) and Teesri Manzil (1966).
- #008
Prem first met Manoj on the sets of Woh Kaun Thi, whose lead was Manoj Kumar. Manoj offered Prem a positive role in Shaheed, which Manoj hosted.
- #009
After the partition of India, his family moved to Shimla, where he grew up. His father wanted Prem to become a doctor or an administrative officer in India.
- #010
Prem Chopra was born on 23 September 1935 in Lahore to Ranbirlal and Rooprani Chopra, in a Hindu Punjabi family. He was the third of six children. His father worked in the advocate general's office.
- #011
After Teesri Manzil and Upkaar, Prem Chopra was flooded with film offers as a villain. Following the success of Upkaar in 1967, he left The Times of India and decided to be an actor for the rest of his life. He worked at TOI between 1965 and 1966 and worked on several films that became hits after release, such as Nishan, Bahu Beti and Sikandar E Azam in 1965 and Sagaai and Mera Saaya in 1966.
- #012
Between 1969 and 1991, from Doli (1969) to Ghar Parivaar (1991), Prem Chopra played the villain in films starring superstar Rajesh Khanna. The pair of Prem and Rajesh Khanna appeared together in 19 films, 15 of which earned box office revenue, and they were very close friends in real life until Khanna's death.
- #013
Prem Chopra's first film was the Punjabi film Chaudhari Karnail Singh, a blockbuster in which Prem Chopra played the lead; the film won the National Film Award for Best Punjabi Film in 1961. The story was about a Muslim boy who falls in love with a Hindu girl.
- #014
Prem Chopra was paid 2,500 rupees for his role in Chaudhari Karnail Singh. The film took nearly three years to complete.
- #015
Shimla had a strong theatre movement during the 1957-1961 period, which Chopra enjoyed. He watched numerous Indian and English films, and after graduating he came to Bombay in the early 1960s and joined the distribution department of The Times of India.
- #016
Prem Chopra considers his favourite actors to be Balraj Sahni, Pran, Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Shashi Kapoor.
- #017
Jagjit Sethi, a Punjabi producer, gave him the opportunity to be the hero opposite Jabeen in the National Award-winning Punjabi film Chaudhary Karnail Singh. A stranger saw Prem Chopra while travelling on a suburban train and asked Prem whether he wanted to join films; Prem casually said yes, and the stranger then took Prem to Ranjit Studios, where the producers of Chaudhari Karnail Singh were looking for a hero.
- #018
Prem Chopra was among the first to herald the concept of the handsome villain, and he was also one of the few who set a trend showing that a villain was not merely a stereotype spewing venom, delivering expected lines, seething with rage and gnashing his teeth.
- #019
After completing his graduation, Prem Chopra came to Mumbai and stayed in various guest houses in Colaba, then took a job in the circulation department of the TOI publishing house.
- #020
Ravi Nath Malhotra, the brother of Prem Chopra's wife Uma, was Dimple Kapadia's secretary. Ravi's son is the director Karan Malhotra.
- #021
In 1961 Prem Chopra finally made his mark with the Punjabi film Chaudhary Karnail Singh, which won a National Award and gave Prem the recognition he wanted. He later gave a praiseworthy performance in another Punjabi film, Sapni (1963).
- #022
Prem has been one of the leading villains of Hindi films since 1966, and his peak period as a lead villain in Hindi films was 1967-1994. In the 70s he usually took on major villain roles alongside Sujith Kumar and Ranjeet.
- #023
Prem Chopra's daughter Punita is married to the actor Vikas Bhalla, Prerana Chopra is married to the actor Sharman Joshi, and Rakita is married to the advertising designer Rahul Nanda.
- #024
On 15 August 1993, Prem Chopra represented India as Grand Marshall in the Independence Day Parade in Chicago. There he was honoured as an 'Honorary Citizen of Chicago' by the Mayor of Chicago and was given an award by the Federation of Indian Associations for his outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes and for enriching the Indian community in India and abroad.
- #025
Prem Chopra married Uma, the sister of the actor Raj Kapoor's wife Krishna, and Uma is also the sister of the actors Prem Nath and Rajendranath. They have three daughters: Rakita, Punita and Prerana.
- #026
Prem also performed dialogues to the song Lo Mera Pyar Lelo from Nafrat in 1973 with Asha Bhosle, and to Kab Se Ye Dil Hai Pyaasa from Mera Muqaddar in 1988.
- #027
Prem Chopra married Uma, the younger sister of Krishna Kapoor, Prem Nath and Rajendra Nath, in 1969, and they have three daughters: Rakita, Punita and Prerana.
- #028
After 1999 Prem Chopra appeared as a villain in very few films. From 1999 he took on positive character roles, and from 2005 he began taking more positive roles. After 2005 his screen space in films shrank.
- #029
Prem Chopra worked with Rajesh Khanna as the lead hero in 19 films: Doli, Do Raaste, Kati Patang, Daag, Ajanabee, Prem Nagar, Maha Chor, Mehbooba, Tyaag, Bebus, Aanchal, Jaanwar, Souten, Maqsad, Awaaz, Shatru, Oonche Log, Waapsi and Ghar Parivaar. Of the 17 released films, 15 were hits. And 2 films, Waapsi and Bebus, were not released.
- #030
Prem Chopra was born on 23 September 1935 in Lahore into a Hindu Punjabi family, to Ranbirlal and Rooprani Chopra. He was the third of six children. His father worked in the Advocate General's office. After the partition of India, his family moved to Shimla, where he grew up. His father wanted Prem to become either an Indian Administrative Service officer or a doctor.
- #031
Prem Chopra is the brother of the Bollywood producer/actor Kailash Chopra.
- #032
Prem Chopra took part in university dramas.
- #033
During the shooting of Main Shadi Karne Chala, the director told Prem that he had turned into a villain because fewer people wanted to play the villain and the competition beyond Pran and Jeevan had dwindled.
- #034
Following in the footsteps of the villains played by Pran and Jeevan in the 1960s, Prem Chopra, who also had a habit of adding subtle humour to his villainous roles, decided in 1966 to pursue the villain concept that makes audiences laugh without losing the true depth of his evil designs.
- #035
After the success of his lead Punjabi role as Chaudhry Karnail Singh in Sapni, followed by Hindi character roles in Woh Kaun Thi, Nishan and Sikandar E Azam, and after tasting success with positive roles in Shaheed, Prem Chopra grew increasingly popular as a villain with Sunil Dutt-Sadhna starrer Mera Saaya (1966), Teesri Manzil and Manoj Kumar's Upkar (1967), which were hits. From 1966 onwards, however, he became popular as a villain among producers and directors, who decided that Prem should be regularly preferred for villain roles from 1967.
- #036
Prem Chopra played the lead hero in the low-budget 1970s box-office comedy Samaj Ko Badal Dalo, paired with Tamil actresses Kanchana and Shardha. The song Tum Apni Saheli Ko Itna Bata Do Ki Usse Koi Pyar Karne Laga Hai, sung by Rafi and picturised on Prem Chopra in this 1970 film, remains popular.
- #037
Prem Chopra starred in Dinesh Raaja Combine Films' CBI Officer (1997). The cast included Prem Chopra, Johnny Lever, Kiran Kumar, Pramod Moutho and Ishrat Ali, with music by Dalip Sen and Sameer Sen and direction by K. Arjuna.
- #038
The song Rah Mein Kaliya, sung by Kishore Kumar and lip-synced on screen by Prem Chopra in the 1973 film Nafrat, which failed at the box office, remains a popular fast-paced song.
- #039
Prem Chopra regards his performance in Oonche Log (1985) as his most terrifying villainous turn. He considers the scene in Oonche Log in which he strangles Pradeep Kumar's character to death the most frightening scene of his career and his best work. His other villainous roles include Kaala Sona, Phool Bane Angare and Purab Paschim. He regards his scenes in Indira as his worst role and the 1989 film Indira as the worst film he has ever done.
- #040
Prem Chopra's son-in-law Rahul Nanda is the son of Gulshan Nanda.
- #041
Rahul Nanda is Prem Chopra's son-in-law (married to his daughter Rakita). Rakita worked on the film Devdas.
- #042
Prem Chopra appeared in Maa Devrati Films' Swaraj (2000). The cast included Sikander, Rajesh Sabharwal, Saurav Dev, Prem Chopra, Johny Lever, Pramod Moutho, Kiran Kumar and Mushtaq Khan, with direction by Ashok Gautam.
- #043
Prem Chopra appeared in the shelved Devar Films Intl film Blood (2000). The cast includes Vinay Anand, Nupur Chakravorty, Deepa Patel, Prem Chopra, Reema Lagoo and Sudha Chandran, with music by Anand-Milind and direction by Raajan Devar.
- #044
Prem Chopra's brothers are named Brahm, Kailash, Vishwa and Ravindra. His youngest sister is named Anju. Anju married Deepak Dumra on 6 December 1971.
- #045
Prem Chopra was paired very often with Bindu in films such as Lagan, Do Raaste, Kati Patang, Tyaag, Daag, Phandebaaz, Gehri Chaal and Nafrat, and the two became a very popular pair among audiences.
- #046
Vikas Bhalla and Punita's children are Veer and Saanchi Bhalla. Saanchi is a student in Montreal, Canada.
- #047
Prem Chopra appeared in the shelved Maa Devrati Films film Swaraj (1999). The cast includes Prem Chopra, Johnny Lever, Kiran Kumar, Pramod Moutho, Ishrat Ali, Mushtaq Khan, Rajesh Sabharwal, Sikander and Saurav Dev, with music by Pradip Nair, production by Iqbal Siddique and direction by Ashok Gautam.
- #048
Prem Chopra appeared in the shelved The Roop Enterprise film Mohabbat Aur Bhagawat (1993). The cast includes Raghu Raj Chopra, Nandini, Prem Chopra, Kiran Kumar and Sulabha Deshpande, with music by Bappi Lahiri and direction by Annup Malik.
- #049
Prem Chopra appeared in the shelved Suraj Productions film Main Aur Meri Adalat (1994). The cast includes Akshay Anand, Somy Ali, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Prem Chopra and Raza Murad, with music by Rajesh Roshan and direction by S. Arora.
- #050
Prem Chopra's nephew Raghu Raj Chopra (son of Kailash Chopra) was to make his acting debut in the film Mohabbat Aur Bhagawat (1993). However, the film was shelved.
- #051
Mehboob Khan wanted to launch Prem Chopra as a hero in Son of India. However, when he saw Prem Chopra play a negative role in Woh Kaun Thi, Mehboob Khan was very upset.
- #052
S. D. Narang signed Prem Chopra to a three-film contract and planned to introduce him as a hero. All three films were shelved.
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