BR Films was launched in 1955 after its founder had tasted the success of his first two films as director: Afsana and Chandni Chowk.

The first film under the BR Films banner was Ek Hi Rasta (1956) starring Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Meena Kumari. The film, which was labelled ‘Box Office Poison’ before its release owing to its touchy subject of widow re-marriage, went on to become a runaway hit making BR Films a banner to reckon with. In the years to come, BR Films kept up its early promise by producing socially relevant, wholesomely entertaining and commercially successful films: Naya Daur, Dhool Ka Phool, Gumrah, Kanoon, Waqt, Hamraaz, Ittefaq, Baghban…

BR Films did not just make successful films, it also launched and/or nurtured a wide variety of exceptional talent: directors Yash Chopra and Ravi Chopra; playback singer Mahendra Kapoor; singing star Salma; story-writers Pt. Mukhram Sharma and Dr. Achala Nagar; music director Ravi; dialogue writer Akhtar-ul-Iman; actors like (Baby) Sarika, Raj Babbar, Deepak Parashar, Nana Patekar… it’s a long list.

BR Films produced films of every genre: social dramas, romantic dramas, thrillers, courtroom dramas, comedies and a mega epic. It gave Bollywood its first multi-starrer, Waqt; it dared to produce two super-hit “song-less” films, Kanoon and Ittefaq; it gave Indian television its longest-running and most successful TV series, Mahabharat…