Prem Chopra makes a fervent plea against the rigidity that prevails in the way film artists are cast in certain roles. A villain continues to be one in every film in which he appears and a hero is eternally one in all his films. How can one explain this typing which stifles the talent of an artiste? If our film makers could shatter this tradition of `typing' stars and give them more lenience, Prem Chopra feels that an actor will have a chance to prove his versatility, while the audience too will have a pleasant surprise each time.
Apart from this, he has another grouse. A hero on the Indian screen is a paragon of virtue and has no human weakness. He does not even lose his- temper once in a while. A villain, on the other hand, is very villainous indeed. There is no redeeming feature. They are not characters, they are types. So an actor is not only typed, but he also plays not real-life characters, but only types. Working in films for more than three years now, twenty-eight-year-old Prem was born in Lahore and graduated from Simla. Though he took up a job with a big publishing house in Bombay, he did not allow time to erase his wild dreams of joining films. His job involved a lot of traveling, and the seven days that he once spent in Bombay he utilised in exploring the possibilities of a film career.
Prem Chopra succeeded after a short struggle. The moment came when in Panchgani he met producer Gulshan Behl who was planning his first film and showed a keen interest in the roving aspirant. Prem had his screen test, but his soaring hope gradually collapsed when the producer did not contact him for nine months. Prem forgot all about it, and thanked his stars that he had not given up his job. But one day Gulshan Behl rang Prem's door bell holding a contract sheet in his hand and Prem played his first role as a villain. The picture flopped. Prem Chopra survived the failure when another film, Chowdhury Karnail Singh (1960), came his way. This celebrated a jubilee and received a State award as the best regional picture.