He was the brain behind popular Bollywood coinages like 'angry young man' and gave Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan his biggest break with Zanjeer. Prolific filmmaker Prakash Mehra, who passed away on Sunday, will always be remembered for his blockbuster movies and super-hit dialogues.
Born in Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh, on July 13, 1939, Mehra started his career in the late 1950s as a production controller. He ventured into filmmaking in 1968 with the Shashi Kapoor-starrer Haseena Maan Jayegi, followed by the 1971 hit Mela, starring brothers Feroz and Sanjay Khan. His next was Samadhi (1972) with Dharmendra.
He struck gold at the box office with the 1973 action flick Zanjeer, with Bachchan in the main lead. The success of the film made Mehra a name to reckon with as a director and established Bachchan as the 'angry young man'.
Zanjeer laid the foundation for the top director-actor duo, who later teamed up for Hera Pheri (1976), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Laawaris (1981), Namak Halal (1982) and Sharabi (1984). Their last film together was Jaadugar, in 1989.
While the first five proved to be hits, the last one was a dud. The failure of the film is also said to have soured the relationship between the two, a rumour Bachchan put to rest by visiting Mehra while he was in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in the city.
"Prakash Mehra, the director of some of my most significant and most successful films, lies in the ICU. When I went to him, he had difficulty in recognising me. It is most depressing to see my contemporaries in this way. This wizard of a director, now lying inane and without response, eyes open but closed for all purposes, ventilator breathing for him - just so unimaginable," Bachchan posted on his blog bigb.bigadda.com after his visit.
Singer Adnan Sami also stopped by, as his father was admitted to the same hospital. "I walked into Prakashji's ICU to quietly take his blessings. He recognised me even in that condition and did the popular hand movement from my song 'Lift kara de' with the Big B. It was an utterly endearing gesture acknowledging me and my love for the movies that he did with the Big B," Sami said earlier.
Mehra also wielded the baton for duds like Aakhri Daku (1978) and Zindagi Ek Jua (1992). His last film, Bal Bramhachari (1996), launched late actor Rajkumar's son, Puru.
In the 1990s, Mehra's only successful film was Dalaal (1993). In 2006, the Indian Motion Picture Directors Association (IMPDA) honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement award. He was also among one of the first Hindi film directors to have joint ventures with Hollywood filmmakers. He collaborated with director Frank Yandolino for The God Connection in the late 1980s, but the project never took off.
Mehra's health was said to have worsened after his wife's death over two years back. He died of pneumonia and multiple organ failure at 7.50 am on Sunday. He was 69.
Mehra is survived by two sons, Sumeet and Amit.
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