Veteran C.I. distributor J.P. Chowksey breathed his last this morning (2nd March) in Indore. He was 83 years old. He had not been keeping good health since a long time. Jai Prakash Chowksey had been diagnosed with cancer some years ago, from which he had recovered. The deadly disease struck again, and life was never the same thereafter. He is survived by his wife and two sons. His funeral will be held later today. His son, distributor-exhibitor-producer Aditya Chowksey, who is currently in Bombay, will reach Indore by the afternoon flight, after which J.P. Chowksey will be cremated.
Chowksey Sahab, as he was respectfully called, had served as the president of the Central Circuit Cine Association (CCCA) for a few years. He was a warm person and helpful by nature. He was also a columnist whose regular column, Parde Ke Peechhe, in Dainik Bhaskar newspaper appeared for 27 years. In fact, he had written his last column, bidding his readers goodbye, on 25th February, just five days before he bid goodbye to the world. He had also authored several books.
Chowksey Sahab started his career as a professor. he used to teach in Gujarati College in Indore. He had distributed over a hundred films including Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog, Henna, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, J.P. Dutta’s Border, Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai and Gulzar’s Maachis. J.P. Chowksey was also a writer, having written Sam Sugnu Jethwani’s Shaayad, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. He also wrote the screenplay for Sanjeev Kumar’s last film, Qatl. The adapted screenplay for Salman Khan starrer Bodyguard was co-written by him. Salim Khan and Chowksey were associated with the writing of Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s Mahabharat serial which was telecast on Star TV. J.P. Chowksey was also connected with the scripting of 10 Ka Dum television show. Besides, he had also written a Tamil film produced by A. Purnachandra Rao. He had co-produced Shayad, Harjaee and Kanhaiya. Wapsi, starring Rajesh Khanna in a double role, and directed by Surendera Mohan, remained incomplete.